Powerchip Semiconductor Corp (
With its early migration to advanced 12-inch fab chip production using 0.11-micron technology, Powerchip strengthened its market share to 4.7 percent in the third quarter, beating Nanya Technology Corp (
PHOTO: CNA
Powerchip hopes to repeat this success.
"We plan to spend another NT$200 billion at least on building four 12-inch factories, including the one under construction, in order to further reduce our costs," Powerchip chairman Frank Huang (
Powerchip's first 12-inch plant in commercial operation helped boost its gross margin to 49 percent, outpacing the world's top memory chip supplier Samsung Electronics Co's 46.1 percent in the third quarter, the company said.
Next year, the Taiwanese chipmaker plans to start building its third 12-inch fab, once the second advanced plant starts mass production in the second quarter of 2005, Huang said.
"[With the capacity expansion plans in place,] we hope to squeeze into the top-three position in the world's competitive memory chip industry in the next 10 years," Huang said.
But, Paul Tsai (蔡昀達), a fund manager, who helps oversee a NT$500 billion fund for International Investment Trust Co Ltd (國際投信), said caution was warranted.
"There's no guarantee that Powerchip will succeed again by building more advanced 12-inch fabs, despite the previous success."
"There's always uncertainty there in the highly cyclical memory chip industry.," he said.
Powerchip has an eight-inch fab and a 12-inch fab in operation in the Hsinchu Science-based Industrial Park, Taiwan's Silicon Valley.
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) halted shipments to a customer this month after its semiconductors were sent to China’s Huawei Technologies Co (華為), potentially breaching US sanctions, a government official said. The US slapped sanctions on Huawei in 2019, and expanded them the following year, over fears its technology could be used for Beijing’s espionage operations. The restrictions prevent TSMC from selling semiconductors to Huawei. However, TSMC discovered on Oct. 11 that chips made for a “specific customer” had ended up with the Chinese company, a Taiwanese official with knowledge of the incident said on the condition of anonymity. TSMC “immediately activated
US SANCTIONS: The Taiwan tech giant has ended all shipments to China-based Sophgo Technologies after one of their chips was discovered in a Huawei phone Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) suspended shipments to China-based chip designer Sophgo Technologies Ltd (算能科技) after a chip it made was found on a Huawei Technologies Co (華為) artificial intelligence (AI) processor, according to two people familiar with the matter. Sophgo had ordered chips from TSMC that matched the one found on Huawei’s Ascend 910B, the people said. Huawei is restricted from buying the technology to protect US national security. Reuters could not determine how the chip ended up on the Huawei product. Sophgo said in a statement on its Web site yesterday that it was in compliance with all laws
TECH TITANS: Nvidia briefly overtook Apple again on Friday after becoming the world’s largest company for a short period in June, as Microsoft fell to third place Nvidia Corp dethroned Apple Inc as the world’s most valuable company on Friday following a record-setting rally in the stock, powered by insatiable demand for its specialized artificial intelligence (AI) chips. Nvidia’s stock market value briefly touched US$3.53 trillion, slightly above Apple’s US$3.52 trillion, London Stock Exchange Group data showed. Nvidia ended the day up 0.8 percent, with a market value of US$3.47 trillion, while Apple’s shares rose 0.4 percent, valuing the iPhone maker at US$3.52 trillion. In June, Nvidia briefly became the world’s most valuable company before it was overtaken by Microsoft Corp and Apple. The tech trio’s market capitalizations have been
Shares of Starlux Airlines Co (星宇航空) surged more than 53 percent on its debut on the Taiwan stock exchange yesterday. Starlux shares closed up 53.75 percent at NT$30.75 from its initial public offering price of NT$20 after retreating in late trading from a 60 percent rise. China Airlines Ltd (CAL, 中華航空) rose 0.90 percent to close at NT$22.35, while EVA Airways Corp (長榮航空) gained 0.40 percent to close at NT$37.70. In Taiwan, a newly listed stock is allowed to go beyond the 10 percent maximum increase or decline in its first five trading sessions. At the listing ceremony, Starlux chairman Chang Kuo-wei (張國煒) said
RSS