You're right. With back-up power, they are just testing, and protecting. And, this won't hit Q3 earnings. 10 days left, inventory draw down. It could hurt Q4, if Taiwan doesn't start back up within short period of time. Even if C-Cube supplies their chips to OEMs, as needed, the other pieces might be is short supply...............
semibiznews.com
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Most of Taiwan's wafer fabs lost electrical power around 1:47 a.m. when the quake struck, causing silicon foundries to shut down normal operations and switch on emergency power generators (see Sept. 20 story). With the back-up power on, managers at Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. and other wafer foundries here are still attempting to determine if production lines and tools need repairs or servicing before they are started again.
Some companies indicated that employees have not yet entered into some cleanrooms for fear of gas leaks. Normal electrical power is not expected to be restored for days, according to several companies interviewed today.
Back-up generators at some fabs are providing enough power to protect wafer-processing tools and to help managers assess the potential damage. TSMC officials indicated that the company's use of standard mechanical interface (SMIF) minienvironments in fabs may have helped to protect wafers that were in the midst of being processed when the quake struck.
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A Hong Kong-based analyst with Goldman, Sachs & Co. said he did not believe the quake and disruption in fab operations would be catastrophic financially to Taiwan's growing foundry industry. Assuming a three-day shutdown at TSMC, the analyst said the world's largest silicon foundry could end up losing about NT$630 million ($19.8 million), or about 3% of its expected third-quarter revenues. |
