Report: TSMC confirms U.S. wafer fab site hunt
LONDON – Amid plans to increase capital spending to a record $9 billion in 2013, Taiwanese foundry TSMC is seeking a location for a wafer fab, with the U.S. as a possibility, according to a local news report.
Commenting on speculation that TSMC (Hsinchu, Taiwan) might build a fab in New York, Morris Chang, chairman and CEO of TSMC, said that his company is looking for a location for a wafer fab. "The U.S. is one of the places under consideration. But this has nothing to do with Apple," the Taipei Times quoted Chang as saying. Chang was speaking at the Supply Chain Management Forum in Hsinchu, Taiwan.
It has been speculated that TSMC might be the entity behind Project Azalea that is considering build a factory in New York state, or behind a similarly named project in Oregon. It has also been speculated that TSMC might be considering a U.S. site under pressure from Apple, which has become an important buyers of foundry services for the processors it uses in its smart phones and tablet computers.
TSMC has budgeted $8.3 billion for capital spending in 2012, which it will increase to $9 billion in 2013. At the same time the budget for R&D is $1.37 billion in 2012 and is due to expand by 17 percent to $1.6 billion in 2013, the report quoted Chang as saying.
The capital spending will help TSMC expand manufacturing capacity particularly of leading-edge 28-nm process technology which has been in short supply during 2012. TSMC also expects to bring up a 20-nm bulk planar CMOS process in 2013.
Chang said he expects the global chip market to grow 3 percent next year after a fall of 2 percent in 2012, although he expects TSMC to grow by 15 to 20 percent in 2013, the report added.
Related links and articles:
Taipei Times article
London Calling: Is Oregon courting fab project?
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TAG:Taipei Times Morris Chang TSMC wafer fab Project Azalea New York Oregon foundry semiconductor capex
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