Yageo Corp (國巨), the nation’s largest passive components supplier, on Saturday broke ground for a new plant in Kaohsiung that is expected to begin commercial production in 2022.
Yageo chairman Pierre Chen (陳泰銘) told the groundbreaking ceremony that it would be the company’s first new plant in the city in 15 years as it embarks on a plan to move its high-end technology production back home from overseas.
The plant, which is expected to be completed in August 2022, would produce passive components, such as chip resistors, inductors and multi-layer ceramic capacitors (MLCCs), starting in October that year, Yageo said.
Photo: CNA
The plant is being built at a cost of NT$5 billion (US$173.33 million), with an additional NT$13 billion to NT$15 billion allocated for equipment to produce advanced MLCCs, and is expected to create 3,000 new jobs, the company said.
The facility would have 10 stories with a floor area of 85,800m2, about 1.3 times the size of Yageo’s two other MLCC factories in Kaohsiung.
When the plant starts operation, 60 percent of Yageo’s total MLCC production would be in Taiwan, Chen said.
The production lines in Taiwan are to manufacture specialty and high-end MLCCs for use in the fields of automotive electronics, medical care, aviation, 5G and the Internet of Things, among others, he said.
With three plants in operation in Taiwan, Yageo’s MLCC production capacity would increase from 60 billion to 100 billion units per month, cementing its position as a leading global MLCC supplier, Chen said.
Yageo would also boost its development of high-technology through expansion, he said, citing the company’s acquisition earlier this year of US companies Kemet Corp and Pulse Electronics Corp for US$1.64 billion and US$740 million respectively.
Yageo would continue to invest in Kaohsiung as part of its plan to make Taiwan its manufacturing hub over the next five years, Chen said.
The company said it has teamed up with National Cheng Kung University in Tainan to establish a research and development center, where it would set up an academy to foster talent for the development of passive components.
Yageo has invested at least NT$50 million in the center, which has two research compounds, one in Kaohsiung and the other at the university.
Yageo is the largest maker of chip resistors and tantalum capacitors, but only 25 percent of its employees are in Taiwan, while 50 percent of its overseas workers are in China.
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) yesterday obtained the government’s approval to inject an additional US$7.5 billion into its US subsidiary, the Department of Investment Review said in a statement. The department approved TSMC’s application of investing in TSMC Arizona Corp, which is engaged in the manufacturing, sales, testing and design of IC and other semiconductor devices, it said. The latest capital injection follows a US$5 billion investment for TSMC Arizona approved in June. The chipmaker has broken ground on two advanced fabs in Arizona with aggregated investments approved by the department totaling US$24 billion thus far. According to TSMC, the first Arizona
The lethal hack of Hezbollah’s Asian-branded pagers and walkie-talkies has sparked an intense search for the devices’ path, revealing a murky market for older technologies where buyers might have few assurances about what they are getting. While supply chains and distribution channels for higher-margin and newer products are tightly managed, that is not the case for older electronics from Asia where counterfeiting, surplus inventories and complex contract manufacturing deals can sometimes make it impossible to identify the source of a product, analysts and consultants say. The response from the companies at the center of the booby-trapped gadgets that killed 37
FRIENDLY TAKEOVER: While Qualcomm Inc’s proposal to buy some or all of Intel raises the prospect of other competitors, Broadcom Inc is staying on the sidelines Qualcomm Inc has approached Intel Corp to discuss a potential acquisition of the struggling chipmaker, people with knowledge of the matter said, raising the prospect of one of the biggest-ever merger and acquisition deals. California-based Qualcomm proposed a friendly takeover for Intel in recent days, said the sources, who asked not to be identified discussing confidential information. The proposal is for all of the chipmaker, although Qualcomm has not ruled out buying some parts of Intel and selling off others. It is uncertain whether the initial approach would lead to an agreement and any deal is likely to come under close antitrust scrutiny
SECURITY CONCERNS: The proposed ban on Chinese autonomous vehicle software and hardware would go into effect with the 2027 and 2030 model years respectively The US Department of Commerce today is expected to propose prohibiting Chinese software and hardware in connected and autonomous vehicles on US roads due to national security concerns, two sources said. US President Joe Biden’s administration has raised concerns about the collection of data by Chinese companies on US drivers and infrastructure as well as the potential foreign manipulation of vehicles connected to the Internet and navigation systems. The proposed regulation would ban the import and sale of vehicles from China with key communications or automated driving system software or hardware, said the two sources, who declined to be identified because the