Former Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) joint chief operating officer Chiang Shang-yi (蔣尚義) is to take a job at Chinese rival Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corp (SMIC, 中芯國際), the Shanghai-based chipmaker said yesterday.
SMIC’s announcement ruffled feathers in local semiconductor circles, as Chiang is one of the key people who helped TSMC clinch top spot in the global semiconductor market through a slew of technological upgrades.
Chiang retired as vice president of TSMC’s research and development division in 2006, but he was “summoned” to rejoin the company in 2009 by TSMC chairman Morris Chang (張忠謀) to assist with the upgrades to 28-nanometer, 20-nanometer and 16-nanometer technologies.
Photo: Hung Yu-fang, Taipei Times
The advanced chips accounted for 55 percent of the chipmaker’s total revenue last quarter.
In 2013, Chiang, 70, retired again and was tapped as an adviser to Chang for the following two years. That role ended in December last year.
TSMC said that it was informed by Chiang in advance about his new position and that it does not expect it to adversely impact the company.
His position would be part of SMIC’s efforts to enhance its corporate governance and it is not linked to the chipmaker’s operations, TSMC said.
SMIC, the biggest contract chipmaker in China, has been struggling to implement advanced technologies and it lags behind TSMC by about three generations in terms of technology.
TSMC is planning to ship 10-nanometer chips in the first quarter next year, while SMIC is still relying on 28-nanometer chips.
SMIC’s revenue contribution from its 28-nanometer chips increased to 1.4 percent of its overall revenue last quarter, up from 0.1 percent the previous year, according to the company’s financial statement.
TSMC has a more than 70 percent share of the worldwide 28-nanometer chip market.
Chiang would be an independent non-executive director, the company said in a filing with Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing Ltd.
Chiang does not hold any other position at SMIC or any of its subsidiaries, SMIC said in the filing.
Chiang led TSMC’s research and development as it set milestones in semiconductor technology, from legacy 0.25-micron chips to advanced 16-nanometer FinFET technologies, transforming TSMC from a technology follower to a technology leader, SMIC said.
Chiang is to receive annual cash compensation of US$40,000 and an option to subscribe for 187,500 SMIC ordinary shares, the company said.
TSMC shares fell 1.37 percent to close at NT$180 in Taipei trading yesterday, while SMIC shares slipped 0.76 percent in Hong Kong trading.
The combined effect of the monsoon, the outer rim of Typhoon Fengshen and a low-pressure system is expected to bring significant rainfall this week to various parts of the nation, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. The heaviest rain is expected to occur today and tomorrow, with torrential rain expected in Keelung’s north coast, Yilan and the mountainous regions of Taipei and New Taipei City, the CWA said. Rivers could rise rapidly, and residents should stay away from riverbanks and avoid going to the mountains or engaging in water activities, it said. Scattered showers are expected today in central and
COOPERATION: Taiwan is aligning closely with US strategic objectives on various matters, including China’s rare earths restrictions, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said Taiwan could deal with China’s tightened export controls on rare earth metals by turning to “urban mining,” a researcher said yesterday. Rare earth metals, which are used in semiconductors and other electronic components, could be recovered from industrial or electronic waste to reduce reliance on imports, National Cheng Kung University Department of Resources Engineering professor Lee Cheng-han (李政翰) said. Despite their name, rare earth elements are not actually rare — their abundance in the Earth’s crust is relatively high, but they are dispersed, making extraction and refining energy-intensive and environmentally damaging, he said, adding that many countries have opted to
FORCED LABOR: A US court listed three Taiwanese and nine firms based in Taiwan in its indictment, with eight of the companies registered at the same address Nine companies registered in Taiwan, as well as three Taiwanese, on Tuesday were named by the US Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) as Specially Designated Nationals (SDNs) as a result of a US federal court indictment. The indictment unsealed at the federal court in Brooklyn, New York, said that Chen Zhi (陳志), a dual Cambodian-British national, is being indicted for fraud conspiracy, money laundering and overseeing Prince Holding Group’s forced-labor scam camps in Cambodia. At its peak, the company allegedly made US$30 million per day, court documents showed. The US government has seized Chen’s noncustodial wallet, which contains
SUPPLY CHAIN: Taiwan’s advantages in the drone industry include rapid production capacity that is independent of Chinese-made parts, the economic ministry said The Executive Yuan yesterday approved plans to invest NT$44.2 billion (US$1.44 billion) into domestic production of uncrewed aerial vehicles over the next six years, bringing Taiwan’s output value to more than NT$40 billion by 2030 and making the nation Asia’s democratic hub for the drone supply chain. The proposed budget has NT$33.8 billion in new allocations and NT$10.43 billion in existing funds, the Ministry of Economic Affairs said. Under the new development program, the public sector would purchase nearly 100,000 drones, of which 50,898 would be for civil and government use, while 48,750 would be for national defense, it said. The Ministry of
RSS