Industry Expert Blogs

TSMC is to break ground on its third major 300mm (12in) fab in the middle of this year, the company said as it released slightly better than expected results for the first quarter of 2010. With the existing 300mm plants, Fab 12 and Fab 14, nearing their planned maximum capacity of 100 000 wafers per month, it’s time for a new one.

As it will take at least a year to build the shell, Fab 15 - which was originally earmarked for Tainan rather than its revised location of Taichung, roughly midway between TSMC HQ in Hsinchu and Tainan, before the chip market imploded in 2001 - will not play much of a role in TSMC’s production before 2012.

When it gets going, chairman and CEO Morris Chang, said Fab 15 will support capacity expansion for the 40nm process and will add 28nm before moving onto the 20nm technology and beyond.

Click here to read more ...