Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), the world’s top contract chipmaker, could continue to be the main supplier of Apple Inc’s A9 processor used in its new-
generation iPhones and iPads next year, a market researcher said yesterday.
The key for TSMC to win over its main competitor, Samsung Electronics Co, in vying for Apple’s orders is its production yield, the Market Intelligence and Consulting Institute (MIC, 產業情報研究所) told a press conference on technology industry trends for next year.
“The two companies’ technological capabilities are similar, so the key factor will be whose mass-production yield is better,” MIC director Chris Hung (洪春暉) told reporters on the sidelines of the event.
Hung added that the chances of TSMC remaining the main supplier are higher because of its better yields.
Samsung also produces advanced 20-nanometer (nm) chips, but its yield is not satisfactory, Hung said.
“However, as Apple tends to spread the risks, it is likely that the winning supplier of A9 will not take all the orders,” Hung said.
The MIC holds a positive view of Taiwan’s semiconductor industry next year, despite China’s determination to develop its chip industry, Hung said.
“Although Beijing is to back up the development of its semiconductor industry with an industry-supporting fund of 120 billion yuan [US$19.29 billion], Taiwan still has its technological advantages in terms of design, manufacturing and packaging in the global market,” Hung said.
He said it would take three to five years for China to become a real threat to the Taiwanese industry, but some Taiwanese companies have started to take proactive measures against the rising competition.
Handset chip supplier MediaTek Inc’s (聯發科) 300 million yuan investment in a Chinese government fund and United Microelectronics Corp’s (UMC, 聯電) US$1.35 billion planned investment in a new foundry in Xiamen demonstrates the two companies’ determination to deepen cooperation with China and to benefit from the rapid growth in the world’s largest semiconductor market, he said.
Hung said he expects mergers and acquisitions among Chinese semiconductor companies in the next two or three years, adding that Chinese companies might integrate their upstream and downstream suppliers via strategic cooperation with international companies.
“International semiconductor companies Intel Corp and Samsung both attempted to secure their positions in the Chinese market through investments in chips plants in the country,” Hung said.
Intel has two chips plants in Chengdu (成都) and Dalian (大連) cities, and Samsung established its first semiconductor fabrication plan in Xian (西安), he added.
Hung said the global companies’ moves in China would push Taiwanese companies to secure the positions in the Chinese market as soon as possible.
Anna Bhobho, a 31-year-old housewife from rural Zimbabwe, was once a silent observer in her home, excluded from financial and family decisionmaking in the deeply patriarchal society. Today, she is a driver of change in her village, thanks to an electric tricycle she owns. In many parts of rural sub-Saharan Africa, women have long been excluded from mainstream economic activities such as operating public transportation. However, three-wheelers powered by green energy are reversing that trend, offering financial opportunities and a newfound sense of importance. “My husband now looks up to me to take care of a large chunk of expenses,
SECTOR LEADER: TSMC can increase capacity by as much as 20 percent or more in the advanced node part of the foundry market by 2030, an analyst said Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) is expected to lead its peers in the advanced 2-nanometer process technology, despite competition from Samsung Electronics Co and Intel Corp, TrendForce Corp analyst Joanne Chiao (喬安) said. TSMC’s sophisticated products and its large production scale are expected to allow the company to continue dominating the global 2-nanometer process market this year, Chiao said. The world’s largest contract chipmaker is scheduled to begin mass production of chips made on the 2-nanometer process in its Hsinchu fab in the second half of this year. It would also hold a ceremony on Monday next week to
TECH CLUSTER: The US company’s new office is in the Shalun Smart Green Energy Science City, a new AI industry base and cybersecurity hub in southern Taiwan US chip designer Advanced Micro Devices Inc (AMD) yesterday launched an office in Tainan’s Gueiren District (歸仁), marking a significant milestone in the development of southern Taiwan’s artificial intelligence (AI) industry, the Tainan City Government said in a statement. AMD Taiwan general manager Vincent Chern (陳民皓) presided over the opening ceremony for the company’s new office at the Shalun Smart Green Energy Science City (沙崙智慧綠能科學城), a new AI industry base and cybersecurity hub in southern Taiwan. Facilities in the new office include an information processing center, and a research and development (R&D) center, the Tainan Economic Development Bureau said. The Ministry
ADVERSARIES: The new list includes 11 entities in China and one in Taiwan, which is a local branch of Chinese cloud computing firm Inspur Group The US added dozens of entities to a trade blacklist on Tuesday, the US Department of Commerce said, in part to disrupt Beijing’s artificial intelligence (AI) and advanced computing capabilities. The action affects 80 entities from countries including China, the United Arab Emirates and Iran, with the commerce department citing their “activities contrary to US national security and foreign policy.” Those added to the “entity list” are restricted from obtaining US items and technologies without government authorization. “We will not allow adversaries to exploit American technology to bolster their own militaries and threaten American lives,” US Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick said. The entities
RSS