New TSMC and WaferTech Orders Total $135 Million for Applied Materials; TSMC and
WaferTech Joint Venture Specify Applied Materials' Systems for Taiwan and Washington
Fabs
by Business Editors and Computer Write
Aug 12 1997 4:34PM CST, BUSINESS WIRE
SANTA CLARA, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Aug. 12, 1997--In its latest phase of purchasing equipment for its expanding fabs in
Hsinchu, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC) has ordered a range of manufacturing technologies totaling $78
million from Applied Materials, Inc. In addition, WaferTech, TSMC's joint venture foundry with Analog Devices, Altera, and
Integrated Systems Solutions, Inc. in Camas, Washington, has ordered systems worth $57 million, bringing the total TSMC-related
orders to more than $135 million.
The new TSMC and WaferTech orders were booked in Applied Materials' third fiscal quarter. This is a follow-on order from the
$182 million TSMC purchase that Applied Materials announced earlier this year.
"Applied Materials has the advanced products and the global reach to support our expansion in Taiwan as well as our first overseas joint venture
fab," said Dr. Rick Tsai, executive vice president of operations at TSMC. "TSMC's close relationship with Applied Materials has led to high
productivity and excellent technical results from our fab lines, which have helped establish our company as the world's leading chipmaking
foundry."
The Taiwan portion of the order is primarily for TSMC's Fabs 3 and 4 in Hsinchu, which are ramping up production of 0.35 micron DRAM and
logic devices, as well as adding 0.25 micron capacity for 1998. The WaferTech foundry will produce logic, SRAM and mixed mode devices,
starting at 0.35 micron geometries on 200mm wafers and rapidly transitioning to 0.25 micron feature sizes. Targeted capacity of this fab is
greater than 35,000 wafer-outs per month. System deliveries to both fabs are expected to be completed in the first calendar quarter of 1998.
Dr. John Chen, vice president of operations at WaferTech, noted, "We plan to leverage TSMC's experience with Applied Materials' systems,
and work with Applied Materials' global support organizations to help us quickly start up this new fab."
The combined TSMC and WaferTech order involves most of Applied Materials' advanced chipmaking technologies, including dielectric and
metal CVD (chemical vapor deposition), PVD (physical vapor deposition), Etch, RTP (rapid thermal processing), single-wafer polysilicon
deposition, CMP (chemical mechanical polishing) and ion implant.
"TSMC is leading the semiconductor industry toward a new paradigm of foundry operations by creating a global network of fabs utilizing
leading-edge technologies and geometries," said Dr. David N. K. Wang, senior vice president of Applied Materials. "We believe our total
solutions approach to supporting TSMC's productivity and profitability goals anywhere in the world will benefit everyone involved."
Applied Materials, Inc. is a Fortune 500 global growth company and the world's largest supplier of wafer fabrication systems and services to the
global semiconductor industry. Applied Materials is traded on the Nasdaq National Market System under the symbol "AMAT." Applied
Materials' web site is appliedmaterials.com .
(Copyright 1997) |
