Netherlands-based ASML Holding NV, a leading global supplier of semiconductor production equipment, has received the green light to invest more than NT$10 billion (US$314 million) in Taiwan to set up a plant in New Taipei City’s Linkou District (林口).
The Investment Commission has approved an application by ASML to infuse about NT$5.65 billion and 140 million euros (US$152 million), which is in excess of NT$10 billion in total, into ASML Taiwan Ltd (台灣艾司摩爾), a subsidiary that specializes in wafer measuring equipment and provides its clients with technological support and training, it said in a statement.
Commission spokesperson Su Chi-yen (蘇琪彥), said the Dutch-based company filed an application with the authorities for approval of the investment plan it announced late last year to build a plant in Linkou.
Photo: Reuters
In November last year, when the investment plan was announced, ASML said it would invest globally and in Taiwan to prepare for the company’s continued growth, while supporting global customers and the development of the semiconductor industry.
ASML is the world’s sole supplier of extreme ultraviolet (EUV) lithography photolithography machines used by semiconductor manufacturers to produce chips.
Currently, ASML has 60 operations hubs in 16 countries worldwide, with Taiwan being its largest hub in Asia. In Taiwan, ASML has four client support centers, two R&D centers and two training centers, and is believed to provide EUV machines to the world’s largest contract chipmaker Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (台積電).
In addition to ASML, the commission said it approved a plan submitted by Netherlands-based Yahoo Holdings BV to inject about NT$3.6 billion into Yahoo! Digital Marketing Ltd (雅虎數位行銷), which provides electronic information services and advertising services in Taiwan.
Meanwhile, CTBC Bank Co (中信銀行) was approved to remit US$37.05 million to CTBC Bank (Philippines) Corp as a loan to conduct banking business in the Southeast Asian country, and Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (鴻海精密) secured approval to invest US$329 million in Foxconn Singapore Pte Ltd for the company’s investments in India and Vietnam, the commission said.
HANDOVER POLICY: Approving the probe means that the new US administration of Donald Trump is likely to have the option to impose trade restrictions on China US President Joe Biden’s administration is set to initiate a trade investigation into Chinese semiconductors in the coming days as part of a push to reduce reliance on a technology that US officials believe poses national security risks. The probe could result in tariffs or other measures to restrict imports on older-model semiconductors and the products containing them, including medical devices, vehicles, smartphones and weaponry, people familiar with the matter said. The investigation examining so-called foundational chips could take months to conclude, meaning that any reaction to the findings would be left to the discretion of US president-elect Donald Trump’s incoming team. Biden
INVESTMENT: Jun Seki, chief strategy officer for Hon Hai’s EV arm, and his team are currently in talks in France with Renault, Nissan’s 36 percent shareholder Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (鴻海精密), the iPhone maker known as Foxconn Technology Group (富士康科技集團) internationally, is in talks with Nissan Motor Co’s biggest shareholder Renault SA about its willingness to sell its shares in the Japanese automaker, the Central News Agency (CNA) said, citing people it did not identify. Nissan and fellow Japanese automaker, Honda Motor Co, are exploring a merger that would create a rival to Toyota Motor Corp in Japan and better position the combined company to face competitive challenges around the world, people familiar with the matter said on Wednesday. However, one potential spanner in the works is
HON HAI LURKS: The ‘Nikkei’ reported that Foxconn’s interest in Nissan accelerated the Honda-merger effort out of fears it might be taken over by the Taiwanese firm Nissan Motor Co has become the latest buyout target in Japan as it explores a merger with Honda Motor Co and faces an overture from Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (鴻海精密), known as Foxconn Technology Group (富士康科技集團) internationally. Shares in Nissan yesterday jumped 24 percent, the most on record, to hit the daily limit, after the two Japanese automakers acknowledged that talks are ongoing to better position themselves for competitive challenges during a time of upheaval in the global auto industry. Foxconn — a Taipei-based manufacturer of iPhones, which has been investing heavily in factories to build electric vehicles — has also
CHIP SUBSIDY: The US funding would help alleviate the financial pressure from building two fabs in the US and should lift gross margins in 2026, the company said GlobalWafers Co (環球晶圓), the world’s third-largest silicon wafer supplier, yesterday said it is to receive US$406 million in subsidies from the US Department of Commerce for two new US fabs under the CHIPS and Science Act, with the first batch of the funds likely coming next year. The grant represents 10 percent of the planned investments of US$4 billion in advanced semiconductor wafer manufacturing facilities in Texas and Missouri, GlobalWafers said. The commerce department is to disburse the funds based on the completion of project milestones over a multiyear timeframe, the company said. Along with the tax credit, which is equal to
RSS