Infineon Technologies AG, a world-leading automotive chip supplier, yesterday said it plans to set up a NT$1.2 billion (US$37.05 million) research and development (R&D) center in Taiwan with government funding of NT$480 million to develop next-generation Wi-Fi and Bluetooth chips for electric vehicles in collaboration with local partners.
Infineon is the latest among a slew of global semiconductor companies seeking to operate R&D centers in Taiwan given a resilient semiconductor ecosystem. Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) makes advanced automotive chips for Infineon and NXP Semiconductors NV in Taiwan.
Under similar government initiatives, Nvidia Corp has set up its first artificial intelligence (AI) R&D center in Taiwan with total investment of NT$24.3 billion, including NT$6.7 billion in government subsidies, and is considering establishing a second one.
Photo courtesy of Infineon Technologies AG
Advanced Micro Devices Inc (AMD) is reportedly seeking government support to build a R&D center in Taiwan with total investment of NT$5 billion.
Infineon’s new investment is part of the “A+ Global Innovation Partnership Initiative Program,” an initiative launched by the Ministry of Economic Affairs to accelerate Taiwan’s development of cutting-edge technologies by leveraging the strength of global industry leaders.
Infineon alone would inject about NT$720 million to establish the “Infineon advanced automotive and wireless communication semiconductor R&D center,” upgrading its existing Wireless Communication R&D Lab in Taiwan.
The R&D center investment, the first among European automotive chip manufacturers, would create NT$60 billion in production value for local automotive electronics, Infineon said in a statement yesterday.
The project would cover the entire R&D process for Infineon’s next-generation, automotive-grade Bluetooth chip that is to be carried out in Taiwan, the statement said.
This includes the involvement of international automotive electronic R&D experts, facilitating exchanges with local researchers and industry clients, and transferring expertise in the automotive domain, the German chipmaker said.
The goal is to complete the entire development process of next-generation Bluetooth chip design in Taiwan, from chip design and production to chip packaging and testing, it said.
“We are impressed by Taiwan’s dynamic innovation ecosystem, including its highly skilled R&D talent and strong industry clusters. Building on our strong foundation of existing partnerships with many Taiwanese companies, Infineon now significantly increases its R&D activities. We look forward to further enriching and broadening our collaborative efforts with our local partners,” Sam Geha, executive vice president of Internet of Things, compute and wireless business at Infineon, said in the statement.
Infineon is to team up with research institutes and technology-savvy schools, including the Industrial Technology Research Institute (工研院), National Taiwan University, National Cheng Kung University and National Taipei University of Technology, as well as multiple Taiwanese network module manufacturers and automotive system developers.
The collaboration is to focus on developing wireless communication technologies such as Wi-Fi and Bluetooth chips and solutions for wireless battery management systems, next-generation smart cockpits, and smart car access systems.
When an apartment comes up for rent in Germany’s big cities, hundreds of prospective tenants often queue down the street to view it, but the acute shortage of affordable housing is getting scant attention ahead of today’s snap general election. “Housing is one of the main problems for people, but nobody talks about it, nobody takes it seriously,” said Andreas Ibel, president of Build Europe, an association representing housing developers. Migration and the sluggish economy top the list of voters’ concerns, but analysts say housing policy fails to break through as returns on investment take time to register, making the
‘SILVER LINING’: Although the news caused TSMC to fall on the local market, an analyst said that as tariffs are not set to go into effect until April, there is still time for negotiations US President Donald Trump on Tuesday said that he would likely impose tariffs on semiconductor, automobile and pharmaceutical imports of about 25 percent, with an announcement coming as soon as April 2 in a move that would represent a dramatic widening of the US leader’s trade war. “I probably will tell you that on April 2, but it’ll be in the neighborhood of 25 percent,” Trump told reporters at his Mar-a-Lago club when asked about his plan for auto tariffs. Asked about similar levies on pharmaceutical drugs and semiconductors, the president said that “it’ll be 25 percent and higher, and it’ll
CHIP BOOM: Revenue for the semiconductor industry is set to reach US$1 trillion by 2032, opening up opportunities for the chip pacakging and testing company, it said ASE Technology Holding Co (日月光投控), the world’s largest provider of outsourced semiconductor assembly and test (OSAT) services, yesterday launched a new advanced manufacturing facility in Penang, Malaysia, aiming to meet growing demand for emerging technologies such as generative artificial intelligence (AI) applications. The US$300 million facility is a critical step in expanding ASE’s global footprint, offering an alternative for customers from the US, Europe, Japan, South Korea and China to assemble and test chips outside of Taiwan amid efforts to diversify supply chains. The plant, the company’s fifth in Malaysia, is part of a strategic expansion plan that would more than triple
Taiwanese artificial intelligence (AI) server makers are expected to make major investments in Texas in May after US President Donald Trump’s first 100 days in office and amid his rising tariff threats, Taiwan Electrical and Electronic Manufacturers’ Association (TEEMA, 台灣電子電機公會) chairman Richard Lee (李詩欽) said yesterday. The association led a delegation of seven AI server manufacturers to Washington, as well as the US states of California, Texas and New Mexico, to discuss land and tax issues, as Taiwanese firms speed up their production plans in the US with many of them seeing Texas as their top option for investment, Lee said. The
RSS