Winbond Locates First 12-Inch Wafer Plant in Taiwan
April 23, 2001 (TAIPEI) -- In response to the government's pleas for Taiwan's semiconductor manufacturers to invest at home, Winbond Electronics Corp. has decided to build its first 12-inch wafer plant in Taiwan.
Winbond previously decided to set up its first 12-inch wafer plant in Tainan Science-Based Industrial Park. The company opted out of the development in Tainan, in southern Taiwan, because the high-speed railway will be built very close to the originally-set location for the 12-inch wafer plant, which needs vibration-free conditions for its manufacturing process. The company's spokesman said that several local governments had expressed their enthusiasm for housing Winbond's first 12-inch wafer plant. The decision was made by Winbond to select the plant location from more than 30 alternates in mid-May. Winbond promised that its first 12-inch wafer plant would be located in Taiwan, and it is slated to start construction probably at the year's end.The company will introduce the 0.11-micron manufacturing process into its first 12-inch wafer plant, and upgrade the manufacturing process in its 8-inch wafer plant from 0.175-micron to 0.13-micron next year.
United Microelectronics Corp. is considering building its new 12-inch wafer plant in Singapore, where it already has one 12-inch wafer plant. UMC's Chairman John Hsuan, asked about the location of the corporation's new plant, said that the company had three 12-inch wafer plants sited in Taiwan, Japan and Singapore, and would not rule out the possibility of locating its fourth 12-inch wafer plant abroad. <BR><BR>Hsuan said that the decision over new plant's location would be made in accordance with the performance of the plants in Taiwan and Singapore. If the company decides to set up the new 12-inch wafer plant in Singapore again, it will relocate one third of the capacity to Singapore.
Construction on UMC's joint venture 12-inch wafer plant formed with Germany's Infineon in Singapore started in the second week of April. (Commercial Times, Taiwan) |
