Foundry chipmaker Powerchip Technology plans to build a new 12-inch wafer plant in the Tongluo campus of Hsinchu Science Park (HSP) in Miaoli, northern Taiwan with total investment estimated at nearly NT$300 billion (US$10.1 billion), according to company founder and CEO Frank Huang.
The Tonluo 12-inch fab, which will have an installed capacity of 100,000 wafers a month, will be built in four phases, Huang said, adding that the first-phase construction of the fab is scheduled to begin in 2020 with a capital input of NT$58 billion for a capacity of 15,000 wafers a month. Additional capacity of 35,000 and 50,000 wafers will be added in the second- and third-phase expansion projects, respectively, Huang continued.
The new fab will fabricate logic chips using 2x nm processing technology initially and will migrate into 1x node later, Huang revealed.
The new fab is being planned as the company's supply capacity is falling short of demand, causing headaches for capacity distribution, Huang explained.
For example, demand for MOSFET chips from the electric vehicle and smart city sectors has continued to soar, while demand for IGBT (insulated gate bipolar transistor), sensors and biometric chips is also growing strongly.
Powerchip currently has three 12-inch fabs with a total capacity of 100,000 wafers, as well as an 8-inch fab with a capacity of 70,000 wafers. The company plans to ramp up the capacity of the 8-inch fab to 120,000 wafers in 2019.
Powerchip also aims to integrate its 12- and 8-inch fabs into a new entity in 2018 and plans to debut the new entity on the Taiwan Stock Exchange (TWSE) in 2020, Huang said.
The company posted net profits NT$8.08 billion or NT$3.54 per share in 2017. Industry watchers expect the company's earnings to climb to over NT$10 billion in 2018. |