SEMICONDUCTOR INDUSTRY
UPDATE
March 2020
McIlvaine Company
TSMC to
Build a Fab in the US to Diversify Electronic Device Design
XMC Ramping
50nm SPI NOR Flash Output
Wuhan Xinxin Semiconductor Manufacturing
(XMC), under China's state-owned Tsinghua Unigroup, has reportedly kicked off
mass production of its in-house developed 50nm SPI NOR flash chips.
XMC introduced its new SPI NOR flash series
built using its own 50nm floating-gate technology in December 2019. The series'
transfer rates can outperform standard 8- and 16-bit parallel flash memories,
with continuous read mode allowing for efficient memory access with as few as
8-clocks of instruction-overhead to read a 24-bit address, enabling XIP (execute
in place) operation.
XMC disclosed the new XM25QWxxC supports SOP8
and USON8 packages, which can help customer develop products with compact
physical dimensions. "This product series marks a key milestone of XMC's own
brand strategy to expand its high-performance memory portfolio by continuously
developing innovative products for the always growing IoT market in the future,"
said Holly Sun, company VP of operation, in a statement.
Founded in 2006, XMC is a 12-inch foundry
focusing on R&D and manufacturing of NOR flash, CMOS image sensor chips and MCU.
TSMC Announces
Intention to Build and Operate an Advanced Semiconductor Fab in the United
States
Hsinchu, Taiwan, R.O.C., TSMC announced its
intention to build and operate an advanced semiconductor fab in the United
States with the mutual understanding and commitment to support from the U.S.
federal government and the State of Arizona.
This facility, which will be built in
Arizona, will utilize TSMC’s 5-nanometer technology for semiconductor wafer
fabrication, have a 20,000 semiconductor wafer per month capacity, create over
1,600 high-tech professional jobs directly, and thousands of indirect jobs in
the semiconductor ecosystem. Construction is planned to start in 2021 with
production targeted to begin in 2024. TSMC’s total spending on this project,
including capital expenditure, will be approximately US$12 billion from 2021 to
2029. This U.S. facility not only enables us to better support our customers and
partners, it also gives us more opportunities to attract global talents. This
project is of critical, strategic importance to a vibrant and competitive U.S.
semiconductor ecosystem that enables leading U.S. companies to fabricate their
cutting-edge semiconductor products within the United States and benefit from
the proximity of a world-class semiconductor foundry and ecosystem.
TSMC welcomes continued strong partnership
with the U.S. administration and the State of Arizona on this project. This
project will require significant capital and technology investments from TSMC.
The strong investment climate in the United States, and its talented workforce
make this and future investments in the U.S. attractive to TSMC. U.S. adoption
of forward-looking investment policies to enable a globally competitive
environment for a leading edge semiconductor technology operation in the U.S.
will be crucial to the success of this project. It will also give us the
confidence this and other future investments by TSMC and its supply chain
companies will be successful.
In the United States, TSMC currently operates
a fab in Camas, Washington and design centers in both Austin, Texas and San
Jose, California. The Arizona facility would be TSMC’s second manufacturing site
in the United States.
TSMC to
Build a Fab in the US to Diversify Electronic Device Design
TSMC will build a 5nm wafer fab in Arizona
that will help in the industry's push to decentralize manufacturing from just
Taiwan and China.
The outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic has
revealed flaws in supply chain aggregation and many companies are exploring how
to diversify electronic device design from just two key locations in Taiwan and
China into potentially regionally based manufacturing.
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Corp.
(TSMC) is already on board with this plan after announcing its intention to
build and operate an advanced semiconductor fab in Arizona. Intel is also in
discussions with U.S. organizations to explore ways to strengthen domestic
semiconductor manufacturing.
The TSMC facility, which would be TSMC’s
second manufacturing site in the U.S., will use the company’s 5 nm technology
for semiconductor wafer fabrication, producing 20,000 semiconductor wafers per
month and creating more than 1,600 jobs directly and thousands of indirect jobs
in the ecosystem. This facility will be one of only two of its kind in the world
capable of producing this type of semiconductor wafer.
Construction of the Arizona fab is expected
to begin in 2021 with production targeted to start in 2024. TSMC will invest $12
billion from 2021 to 2029 on the fab.
TSMC said the fab will not just help support
U.S.-based customers and partners, it will also help to attract a different pool
of talent globally. TSMC currently operates a fab in Camas, Washington, and
design centers in Austin, Texas, and San Jose, California. However, the fab in
Washington is an older factory and does not produce advanced chips. TSMC
currently manufactures semiconductors for two of the largest chipmakers in the
U.S., Apple and Qualcomm.
While TSMC was not impacted by the COVID-19
pandemic in terms of facility closures, factories in China experienced delays
and suspension of manufacturing because of stay-at-home orders and social
distancing. As a result, the electronics supply chain was thrown off, causing
delays in shipments of components to OEMs. The automotive industry was
particularly impacted, having to suspend operations for more than a month in
some cases.
TSMC said the Arizona fab would be of
strategic importance to a competitive U.S. semiconductor ecosystem for U.S.
companies to fabricate next-generation semiconductor products. A spokesperson
from TSMC told Electronics360 that the decision to build a fab in the U.S. was
made prior to the events of COVID-19.
Intel may follow suit
Meanwhile, Intel released a statement to
Electronics360 that the company is currently in ongoing discussions with the
Semiconductor Industry Association (SIA) and the U.S. government to explore how
to “ensure continued U.S. semiconductor leadership” as well as “strengthen
domestic sources for state-of-the-art microelectronics and related technology.”
Intel is the U.S.’s largest manufacturer of
semiconductors and operates a commercial foundry that supplies a range of
microelectronics for data center, internet of things, compute electronics and
much more.
“Intel is well positioned to work with these
stakeholders to operate a U.S.-owned commercial foundry and supply a broad range
of secure microelectronics,” the Intel statement said.
National security is a big part of any
diversification plans, according to analysts, and will likely be a key driver of
any regional funding and implementation of regional manufacturing. Whole
industries cannot falter because one country or one region gets hit with a
pandemic, national emergency or natural disaster.
Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said the TSMC
fab in the U.S. and the investment of $12 billion will bolster “U.S. national
security at a time when China is trying to dominate cutting-edge tech and
control critical industries.”
Beefing up manufacturing in the U.S. helps
the country’s national security as it would not have to rely entirely on one
region for its electronic components and electronic device design.
In a post-COVID-19 world, the U.S. could
become less of a throwaway society and pay more for goods instead of just
finding the cheapest path toward fulfillment. Such a change could switch
electronic device design and manufacturing to a region where labor and the
supply chain are more expensive while increasing national security and
diversification in the market.
Analysts believe that in the future,
electronic device manufacturing may move to a regionally based environment such
as Eastern Europe for EU-centric companies, Mexico or the U.S. for North America
and Indonesia for Australia.
TSMC
Seeking US Subsidies for Arizona Fab Project
TSMC has disclosed intentions to build a 5nm
wafer fab in Arizona. But the foundry house is seeking US government subsidies
that it says are needed to run the US fab at costs on about similar levels of
TSMC's Taiwan-based plants. Meanwhile, MediaTek is expected to see strong demand
for its 5G smartphone chips from Chinese vendors in second-half 2020, as the
handset market starts recovering. Apple's upcoming iPhones reportedly will start
volume production in July, injecting momentum into the 5G phone market.
Government subsidies crucial for new TSMC fab
establishment in US: TSMC is in talks with the US government about relevant
subsidies for its new wafer fab in Arizona so that the foundry is able to
implement the investment plan, said TSMC chairman Mark Liu at a press event
right after the company's shareholders meeting on June 9.
MediaTek 5G chip shipments may top 80 million
units in 2020: MediaTek is likely to ship more than 80 million mobile SoCs for
5G handsets in 2020 mainly to Chinese handset vendors, which may push up its
global market share in the segment to at least 40% and serve as a major growth
driver for the company, according to industry sources.
Apple 5G iPhones expected to begin volume
production in July: Apple is expected to complete its second-phase engineering
validation and testing (EVT 2) for its upcoming 5G iPhone series by the end of
June, paving the way for volume production in July, according to industry
sources,
New US Semi
Fab: Reality or Illusion?
Official talks on construction and operation
of a new TSMC semiconductor chip manufacturing fab the in U.S. is promising but
riddled with political and technical intrigue.
Will the news of a new semiconductor fab on
U.S. soil be a boost to the economy and technological stability or is it merely
a fanciful political scheme? The news that has created so much discussion in the
electronics space.
Recently, the Taiwan Semiconductor
Manufacturing Company (TSMC) announced its intention to build and operate an
advanced 5nm semiconductor fab in the U.S. state of Arizona. TSMC, headquartered
in Taiwan, is the largest chip manufacturer in the world. The company currently
operates a fab in Camas, Washington and design centers in both Austin, Texas and
San Jose, California. The Arizona facility would be TSMC’s second manufacturing
site in the United States.
The new manufacturing plant would be
supported with funds from Arizona and the U.S. government. The fab will have a
20,000 wafer-per-month capacity, create over 1,600 jobs directly and thousands
more indirectly, explained the company in a press statement.
This by TSMC is welcomed in the U.S. but not
without controversy. Shortly after the announcement of the new fab, the U.S.
Department of Commerce announced new restrictions on TSMC’s second-largest
customer, HiSilicon of China – which is fully owned by Huawei. Some industry
experts feel that the two events are related to the issue of U.S. export
control.
The political side of the TSMC fab
announcement begins to emerge. Huawei, already part of the US trade war with
China, was recently placed under new and more stringent export control. On May
19, the Commerce Department issued new rules to more fully close off Huawei's
access to the semiconductor chips it needs to build cell phones and 5G
infrastructure. This could conceivably block China's big telecommunications
company from entering the much desired global 5G mobile network space.
According to the Commerce Department’s press
release, the new rules ban other chipmakers — mostly based in South Korea and
Taiwan — from using U.S. machines and software to manufacture semiconductors for
China’s Huawei. The new restrictions remove a loophole that had allowed
semiconductor makers to continue to sell components and designs to Huawei as
long as they were made outside the U.S.
South Korea is included in this ban as the
country’s leading chip fab – Samsung – has recently put $8 billion into building
a new logic fab at Pyeongtaek in South Korea and another $8 billion unto
expanding its memory fab at Xi’an in China. The Pyeongtaek fab is due to run
first silicon next year using Samsung’s 5nm EUV process.
The reaction from the semiconductor industry
has been generally good but mixed.
Some point out that a better site for the
TSMC fab would be in New York state, where Global Foundries (after acquisitions
from IBM) maintain several chip foundries. But New York is a Democrat-controlled
state while Arizona state is controlled by the Republicans. The current White
House administration is also Republican based.
However, one counterpoint to this argument is
that Intel already owns a large chip fab in Chandler, Arizona. Further, Intel
has been a long-time partner with TSMC, sending their business to the Taiwanese
fab when Intel was running at full capacity and needed extra chip making
facilities. Intel might benefit from a U.S.-owned commercial foundry in Arizona,
such as the proposed TSMC facility.
Another benefit for Intel might be that
Arizona and the U.S. government will offer business incentives to TSMC and their
vendors (like Intel and others) to help offset construction costs and higher
operational cost in the U.S.
Regardless of the potential political or
economic motivations, TSMC is unlikely to complain with either location as the
company hopes to appease President Trump who has been very unhappy with their
business support for Chinese semiconductor companies like Huawei. TSMC would
undoubtedly probably prefer to be on the president’s good side to lessen further
complications.
McIlvaine Company
Northfield, IL 60093-2743
Tel: 847-784-0012; Fax:
847-784-0061
E-mail:
editor@mcilvainecompany.com
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www.mcilvainecompany.com