Applied Materials Inc, a leading US semiconductor equipment supplier, yesterday launched its first combined display manufacturing center and laboratory at Tainan’s Southern Taiwan Science Park.

The Santa Clara, California-based company has invested more than NT$3 billion (US$95.57 million) in its new plant, which takes up about 5.1 hectares, or seven football fields, and includes two cleanrooms and a laboratory.

The company plans to manufacture 10th-generation LCD production equipment on a large scale at the plant, as well as and organic LED (OLED) equipment, according to the Ministry of Economic Affairs’ Web site.

Applied Materials’ new plant in Tainan is expected to boost local investment in the precision machinery and special materials industries, Vice Minister of Economic Affairs Wang Mei-hua said.

Vice President Chen Chien-jen, who presided over the ceremony, said that as tensions rise between the US and China, more Taiwanese and foreign companies with production sites in China are looking to relocate to Taiwan, according to a ministry statement.

Taiwanese firms have pledged to invest more than NT$300 billion in Taiwan, creating 30,000 job opportunities, the ministry said.

Chinese-language TechNews quoted American Institute in Taiwan Director Brent Christensen, who also attended the ceremony, as saying that companies would be more willing to invest in Taiwan as intellectual property is well protected by the nation’s laws, unlike in China

By: DocMemory
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