More Foundry News

Tech-On has an insightful article on the development of TSMC's 300 mm (12-inch) fabs in Hsinchu, Taiwan. Tech-On writes:

Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co Ltd (TSMC) explained the current condition of its 300mm plants as well as its business results for the second quarter of 2008 at a press conference in Tokyo August 1, 2008.

Fab 12 and Fab 14 in Hsinchu are the company's main 300mm plants. The production capacities of the plants are being enhanced to make them "Giga Fabs" with a capacity of more than 100,000 300mm wafers per month. To meet strong demand for the advanced processes of the 65nm generation and beyond, the company has been making capital investments ahead of schedule.

Tech-On further notes the convergence of the foundries with the fabless design houses suggesting that as technology advances, the foundry is becoming more involved in the design of the actual chips. Tech-On writes:

TSMC operates a silicon foundry business with enormous production capacity, but its relationships with users, fabless companies, are changing recently. Until recently, there was a distinction between the roles and users were responsible for designs, while TSMC was responsible for process development and manufacturing.

However, since several years ago, the boundary between their roles has not been as clear as it used to be. I many cases, TSMC works closely with a user from the initial stages of process development and collaborates with a user till the last stage of production, not to mention the designing process.

Following on from our story Fabs to Stay in Taiwan , Digitimes notes that while senior executives at both TSMC and UMC have welcomed the relaxation of laws regarding foundry investments in China, both companies are indifferent to investments in China. Digitimes notes:

When semiconductor demand takes off in the local China market, that will be a judging factor for making the move, said Rick Tsai, CEO of TSMC. While saying that TSMC welcomes an open policy, Tsai added that investing in 12-inch wafer fabrication in China would require taking economic and administrative issues into account.

Morris Chang, chairman of TSMC, indicated that TSMC will focus on expanding its 12-inch wafer capacity at its Hsinchu, Taiwan base. Tsai noted that TSMC is consistently growing its capacity at its Shanghai 8-inch fab (Fab 10). He highlighted that customer base at Fab 10 is broad and he believes that Fab 10 will be a direct beneficiary of a booming semiconductor industry in China. But both of the executives said there seems no urgency to invest in 12-inch wafer fabrication in China.

Shih-Wei Sun, CEO of UMC, said the company has no special comments about potential 12-inch wafer fab investment in China. Company CFO Chi-Tung Liu added that UMC has no plans yet to construct a 12-inch fab in China, as the company will focus on expansion at Fab 12B in the near term. Monthly capacity at Fab 12B could reach 50,000 wafers in the future, he added. UMC has taken three years to ramp capacity at Fab 12A to a 30,000 wafer level.

Digitimes also notes IC Insights has shown TSMC had the largest growth of the top 20 semiconductor companies. Digitimes says:

Recent research from IC Insights uncovered a big shakeup in its global top 20 semiconductor supplier rankings, with many of the major DRAM and flash suppliers (e.g., Qimonda, Elpida, Spansion, Powerchip, Nanya, etc.) no longer part of the top 20 ranking. Although the top four ranked companies remained the same from last year in the rankings – Intel, Samsung, Texas Instruments, Toshiba – it was fifth ranked Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC) that showed the strongest growth among the top 20, with its sales up 35% on year.

Tech-On: TSMC Discloses Under-construction 300mm 'Giga Fabs'
Digitimes: Relaxed restrictions welcomed in Taiwan, but indifference remains about actually building 12-inch wafer fabs in China
Digitimes: TSMC leads growth among top 20 semiconductor suppliers in 1H 2008, says IC Insights
IC Insights: Shakeups Rock 1H08 Top 20 Semiconductor Supplier Ranking