Monday, June 28, 2004
Due to high demand and limited production capability in Taiwan, many local IC design firms for LCD driver are taking measures by looking for foundries services available in China.
Taiwan's top foundries like Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC) and United Microelectronics Corporation (UMC) running full throttle and may not able to accept more orders. Local experts said that the other reason is that low profit from making LCD IC chipset. Gross margins for analog chip production run at over 60% for foundry firms, compared to 10-15% margins for LCD driver ICs.
The IC designer firms may try on sample production on 6-inch foundries fab in China before going to 8-inch fab. Separately, several small-size TFT LCD panel makers will be permitted to invest in cell (mid-end) processing for TFT LCDs in China, according to the Industrial Development Bureau (IDB), Taiwan Ministry of Economic
Affairs (MOEA). IDB’s director Chen Chao Yi said: "We are inclined to suggest allowing local LCD makers to invest in China, based on our initial evaluations, as the manufacturing of 4-inch or smaller panels is relatively labor-intensive." IDB will submit its evaluation to a special panel comprised of government officials, industry professionals and academics for further discussion.
By: DocMemory
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