Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC) has revealed plans to expand production capacity at its Songjiang 8-inch fab in Shanghai (Fab 10) by two-thirds, to cater to strong China demand.
TSMC recently added 20,000 8-inch wafers a month to the capacity at Fab 10, according to Mark Liu, company senior VP of operations. It plans to add another 40,000 units to the output, said Liu, without providing a timeframe for the ramp-up.
TSMC announced in late 2009 that Fab 10 would start manufacturing automotive grade ICs, to accelerate the growth of China's automotive present and future. Fab 10, which ramped up production in October 2004, produces 8-inch wafers on 0.18-micron and less advanced processes.
TSMC's Fab 10 had capacity to process 531,000 8-inch wafers in 2009, according to the foundry's first-quarter 2010 presentation materials. Annual output is estimated at 557,000 units in 2010.
TSMC is also looking to aggressively grow capacity at its 12-inch facilities (Fab 12 and 14), with combined capacity to exceed 240,000 wafers a month by the end of 2010. In addition, the foundry's third 12-inch plant, Fab 15, is scheduled to commence volume production in the first quarter of 2012 with initial capacity to reach 40,000-50,000 wafers per month.