Monday, July 11, 2016
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, ‘äÏ“d) yesterday held a ground-breaking ceremony for its second plant in China as it aims to expand its opportunities in the fast-growing semiconductor market there.
The ceremony came after TSMC in March signed a US$3 billion investment agreement with the Nanjing City Government to produce chips using the companyfs advanced 16-nanometer production process.
The Investment Commission in February approved TSMCfs application to build the 12-inch wafer plant in Nanjing.
The company expects to ramp up production at the new plant in the second half of 2018, with a monthly production capacity of 20,000 units, TSMC said.
TSMC shares rose 1.86 percent to close at NT$164.5 in Taipei trading yesterday.
They have risen 15.03 percent since the beginning of this year, outperforming the broader marketfs 3.63 percent increase, Taiwan Stock Exchange data showed.
China is an important market for TSMC, chairman Morris Chang (’£’‰–d) told reporters at a media briefing last month, citing the pace of its fast-growing semiconductor market in recent years.
Chang attended the ceremony to observe the new milestone in the development of Taiwanfs semiconductor industry in its global expansion strategies, the Central News Agency (CNA) reported.
Several high-ranking Chinese government and Chinese Communist Party officials, including Jiangsu Provincial Party Secretary Li Qiang (—›‹), also attended the event, CNA reported.
TSMC already operates an 8-inch wafer factory in Shanghai.
Despite competition from Chinese rivals, such as Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corp (SMIC, ’†cš Û) and Shanghai Huali Microelectronics Corp (ãŠC‰Ø—Í”÷“dŽq), TSMC commands the largest market share in China, with more than 100 customers there, including Hisilicon Technologies Co (ŠCŽv”¼“±é“), a handset chip designer owned by Huawei Technologies Co (‰Øˆ×).
The Chinese market is the third-biggest revenue source for TSMC, accounting for 12 percent of its first-quarter revenue of NT$203.5 billion (US$6.3 billion), followed by Japan at 5 percent, according to the companyfs financial report.
In the final quarter of last year, revenue from China contributed only 9 percent.
To safeguard its intellectual property rights, the chipmaker established a wholly owned subsidiary in China, TSMC (Nanjing) Co Ltd (‘äÏ“d [“ì‹ž]), to manage the companyfs new 12-inch wafer factory and a design service center.
TSMCfs 12-inch fab is to be the third such facility by Taiwanese chipmakers in China, after United Microelectronics Corp (UMC, —ü“d) and Powerchip Technology Corp (—Í»‰È‹Z) broke ground on their first 12-inch wafer factories in China early last year.
By: DocMemory
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