Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電 ) yesterday said it is postponing the construction of a new fab in Kaohsiung for the production of 7-nanometer (nm) chips in response to weak demand, but the world’s biggest contract chipmaker reiterated its commitment to continue investing in advanced technology in Taiwan.
TSMC chief executive officer C.C. Wei (魏哲家) made the announcement at an Industrial Technology Research Institute (工研院) event in Hsinchu yesterday, after recent speculation about the company’s capacity expansion plan in Kaohsiung.
Last month, Wei told investors that TSMC had initially planned to build two factories to make 7-nanometer and 28-nanometer wafers in the new Nanzih Technology Industrial Park in Kaohsiung.
Photo: Tyrone Siu, REUTERS
With the semiconductor industry entering an inventory correction cycle, TSMC has “adjusted” the fab for the 7-nanometer factory due to weak demand for chips used in smartphones and computers, Wei said.
In the fourth quarter of this year, the capacity utilization of 7-nanometer and 6-nanometer chips would not be as high as it had been in the past three years, he said.
However, the plan to build the 28-nanometer fab would proceed on schedule and could even be expanded, he said.
The chipmaker has yet to break ground on either project. A groundbreaking ceremony for the park was held in August. The park is on a site where state-owned oil company CPC Corp, Taiwan (中油), used to operate a naphtha cracker.
To build a resilient supply chain, TSMC is building capacity in the US and Japan. The Wall Street Journal reported on Thursday that TSMC aimed to build a second chipmaking plant in Arizona.
TSMC said it is evaluating the possibility of the expansion plan, but nothing is substantial yet.
PATENTS: MediaTek Inc said it would not comment on ongoing legal cases, but does not expect the legal action by Huawei to affect its business operations Smartphone integrated chips designer MediaTek Inc (聯發科) on Friday said that a lawsuit filed by Chinese smartphone brand Huawei Technologies Co (華為) over alleged patent infringements would have little impact on its operations. In an announcement posted on the Taiwan Stock Exchange, MediaTek said that it would not comment on an ongoing legal case. However, the company said that Huawei’s legal action would have little impact on its operations. MediaTek’s statement came after China-based PRIP Research said on Thursday that Huawei filed a lawsuit with a Chinese district court claiming that MediaTek infringed on its patents. The infringement mentioned in the lawsuit likely involved
Taipei is today suspending work, classes and its US$2.4 trillion stock market as Typhoon Gaemi approaches Taiwan with strong winds and heavy rain. The nation is not conducting securities, currency or fixed income trading, statements from its stock and currency exchanges said. Authorities had yesterday issued a warning that the storm could affect people on land and canceled some ship crossings and domestic flights. Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) expects its local chipmaking fabs to maintain normal production, the company said in an e-mailed statement. The main chipmaker for Apple Inc and Nvidia Corp said it has activated routine typhoon alert
GROWTH: TSMC increased its projected revenue growth for this year to more than 25 percent, citing stronger-than-expected demand for AI devices and smartphones The Taiwan Institute of Economic Research (TIER, 台灣經濟研究院) yesterday raised its forecast for Taiwan’s GDP growth this year from 3.29 percent to 3.85 percent, as exports and private investment recovered faster than it predicted three months ago. The Taipei-based think tank also expects that Taiwan would see a 8.19 percent increase in exports this year, better than the 7.55 percent it projected in April, as US technology giants spent more money on artificial intelligence (AI) infrastructure and development. “There will be more AI servers going forward, but it remains to be seen if the momentum would extend to personal computers, smartphones and
Catastrophic computer outages caused by a software update from one company have once again exposed the dangers of global technological dependence on a handful of players, experts said on Friday. A flawed update sent out by the little-known security firm CrowdStrike Holdings Inc brought airlines, TV stations and myriad other aspects of daily life to a standstill. The outages affected companies or individuals that use CrowdStrike on the Microsoft Inc’s Windows platform. When they applied the update, the incompatible software crashed computers into a frozen state known as the “blue screen of death.” “Today CrowdStrike has become a household name, but not in