Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) yesterday announced plans to start trial production of 5-nanometer (nm) chips in the second quarter of 2019, as the world’s largest contract chipmaker sought to reassure clients of its role as a trusted technology and capacity partner.
The remarks by TSMC came after rival Samsung Electronics Co on Wednesday announced plans to spin off its foundry business to avoid conflicts of interest with customers.
“Our mission is to create technology and to provide capacity in catering to your needs. We can work together,” TSMC co-CEO C.C. Wei (魏哲家) said at an annual technology symposium in Hsinchu.
Photo: CNA
“We do not believe that any company that makes competing products can really cooperate with you,” Wei said, in a veiled reference to Samsung’s dual roles as a proprietary chip manufacturer and foundry service provider.
TSMC has been investing heavily in next-generation technologies to expand its business and gain bigger shares of top customers’ orders.
Last year, the chipmaker spent a record-high US$2.21 billion on research and development (R&D), Wei said.
That represented an increase of about 7 percent from US$2.07 billion in 2015.
The annual R&D budget has consistently risen and this year’s figure “will be astonishing,” he said.
TSMC supplies chips to 450 customers, including Apple Inc, Nvidia Inc and MediaTek Inc (聯發科).
To maintain its technology leadership, Wei said the company would commence small volume production of 7-nanometer chips later this quarter, paving the way for mass production next year.
Trial production of 5-nanometer chips are to start in the second quarter of 2019 and mass production in 2020, Wei said, in line with the company’s aim of upgrading its node technology by one generation every two years.
On Wednesday, Samsung said that it would lead the industry with its technology roadmap of 8-nanometer, 7-nanometer, 6-nanometer, 5-nanometer and 4-nanometer processes. The South Korean firm expects its 8-nanometer chips to come out later this year and 7nm chips next year.
C.C. Tsai (蔡志群), a senior director at TSMC, told the symposium that global semiconductor revenue is expected to increase by 7 percent year-on-year to US$383 billion this year, backed by growing smartphone demand.
Overall smartphone shipments this year are forecast to increase 6 percent annually to 1.55 billion units, with China outpacing the world by posting growth of 10 percent to 852 million units, Tsai said.
Tsai cited some uncertainties that could affect shipments, including tight supply of memory chips, customer response to new iPhone features such as replacement of the home button with a touch module, and Chinese smartphone vendors redesigning form factors which could delay shipments.
Restaurant chain Din Tai Fung (鼎泰豐) today announced it is to close 14 stores in northern China, completely exiting the market by the end of October. Beijing Hengtaifeng Catering Co (北京恆泰豐餐飲), which operates Din Tai Fung restaurants in northern China, said its 20-year operating license expires this year. As the board was unable to reach a consensus on continuing operations, its 14 restaurants in the region are to close by Oct. 31, it said. The company apologized for the inconvenience and disappointment the news would cause among its customers, and said it would provide compensation for its workers. “We continue to be optimistic about
EXPANDING: The European Commission has contributed 5 billion euros in state aid to TSMC’s 12-inch wafer fab in Dresden, Germany, which broke ground on Tuesday Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) on Saturday said that it has received a total of NT$62.5 billion (US$1.95 billion) in subsidies from China and Japan since 2022. In the first half of this year, TSMC received NT$7.96 billion in subsidies from China and Japan after receiving about NT$47.55 billion last year and obtaining NT$7.05 billion in 2022, financial data compiled by the world’s largest contract chipmaker showed. The company, which makes about 90 percent of the world’s high-end semiconductors, said the subsidies were used to finance its investments in Kumamoto, Japan, and Nanjing, China. TSMC owns a 12-inch wafer fab in
STRATEGIC SHIFT: Diversifying away from the volatile flat-panel industry, AUO aims to boost sales contribution from non-panel business to half of total revenue by 2027 AUO Corp (友達) yesterday said it has agreed to sell its idled manufacturing facility and land in Tainan to Micron Technology Inc for NT$7.4 billion (US$231.8 million) as the company shifts strategy to reduce the impact from the boom-and-bust flat-panel display industry. The company expects to book NT$4.17 billion in disposal gains from the sale, it said in a Taiwan Stock Exchange filing. The Tainan factory produced color filters used in monitors, notebook computers and flat-panel TVs before being shut down last year, as AUO sought to optimize its asset utilization. The company has been striving to diversify and broaden its business
Micron Technology Inc has reportedly set its sights on two facilities owned by flat-panel maker AUO Corp (友達) after Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) recently clinched a deal to buy a facility and equipment from Innolux Corp (群創), another major flat-panel maker. Micron, the world’s third-largest memorychip maker, is expected to purchase two AUO plants in Tainan to expand its advanced chip packaging and testing services and high-bandwidth memory production, local media reports said. The two plants were shut down in August last year and AUO is seeking to dispose of the facilities, the reports said. They are expected to cost Micron