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Technology Stocks : Applied Materials No-Politics Thread (AMAT) -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Kirk © who wrote (77)	10/24/2001 4:12:11 PM
From: Math Junkie	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 25522

Could be.

To: Kirk © who wrote (77)	10/24/2001 4:26:50 PM
From: Proud_Infidel	Respond to of 25522

Talk about contrary indicators. They went long with the worst performing stock and short with the best performing stock. fool.com

To: Kirk © who wrote (77)	10/25/2001 10:08:58 AM
From: Proud_Infidel	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 25522

TSMC pushes ahead with Fab 14 in Taiwan, plans production in China Six-month study shows bullet-train vibration won't impact wafer process in Tainan park, says foundry company Semiconductor Business News (10/25/01 08:59 a.m. EST) TAINAN, Taiwan--After studying the potential impact of ground vibration from a planned high-speed train in southern Taiwan, silicon foundry giant Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. Ltd. today committed to moving ahead with investments for its delayed 300-mm Fab 14 in the Tainan Science-Based Industrial Park. During a state visit here today by Taiwan President Chen Shui-bian, top officials at TSMC reaffirmed plans to invest "several hundred billion NT dollars" in the country's second major high-tech industrial park in the next several years after completing the six-month study on potential problems from the nearby high-speed railway project. Also during the visit, TSMC chairman Morris Chang emphasized that Taiwan "will remain a vital base" for future investments for his company while it plans to set up chip manufacturing in Mainland China. "The dedicated foundry industry is a global industry, crossing all boundaries," Chang said. "With this focus on the global marketplace, TSMC is determined to construct fabs in the Mainland China and other major markets around the world." He also said Taiwan would maintain its competitive edge "as long as corporate enterprise and the government continue to work together." The thorny issues of setting up foundry fabs in Mainland China and continuing investments in Tainan--and elsewhere in Taiwan--have been political hot potatoes for TSMC and the rest of the country's semiconductor industry. Laws and political barriers have prevented Taiwan companies from making major investments in communist China for decades, but with a new silicon foundry industry brewing on the mainland, TSMC and others are feeling tremendous pressure to respond. At home, TSMC and other chip makers are also facing pressure from government leaders to continue plans for large wafer fabs in the Tainan industrial park, which is located 150 miles south of Taiwan's first and largest high-tech park in Hsinchu. A number of multi-billion dollar projects have been canceled or delayed in Tainan by chip companies, which have cited concerns about ground vibration from bullet trains that will run through the industrial park when they becomes operational in 2005. The chip industry's downturn has also played a factor, but some critics in Taiwan believe relocation of manufacturing to China has influenced some decisions as well. TSMC said its railway study project team has concluded that through the correct use of standard engineering techniques, wafer-processing facilities will not be impacted by high-speed railway vibrations in Tainan. The foundry company said it assembled a team of experts for the six-month study, including its own specialists and outside consultants in geology, construction and semiconductor manufacturing equipment. TSMC said it also cooperated with the Taiwan High Speed Railway Co., which is planning the $14 billion bullet train. The study was the first of its kind in the IC industry, according to TSMC. Through detailed data collection, on-site testing, analysis and research, the team confirmed that the wafer fabs will not be impacted by vibrations fron trains, concluded the Hsinchu-based foundry giant. Construction of TSMC's second wafer fab in Tainan--Fab 14--was postponed this year largely due to concerns over ground vibration from the bullet trains, acknowledged the company. The 300-mm wafer production fab is being built near TSMC's existing Fab 6 (shown at left), which began 200-mm (8-inch) wafer processing in early 2000 and contained the company's initial 300-mm pilot line (see March 30 story). TSMC has pushed ahead with its investments in Fab 12, the company's first 300-mm production plant located near its headquarters in Hsinchu. Fab 12 is in production and will have installed capacity for 4,500 twelve-inch wafers per month by the end of 2001. It also has developed TSMC's next-generation processes and will be the company's R&D site for all future technology nodes (see Oct. 22 story). Fab 12 will continue ot be expanded to full capacity and TSMC today said it plans to build six new 300-mm (12-inch) fabs in Taiwan, representing a total investment of NT$700 billion ($20.6 billion). When the Tainan industrial park was started in 1997 by the Taiwan government to balance the country's high-tech industry between the "North and South," officials at TSMC said the company was planning NT$400 billion in investments over the next decade. In the past four years, TSMC has invested a total of NT$260 billion ($7.6 billion) in new fabs and expanded capacity, according to F.C. Tseng, deputy chief executive officer at the foundry company. And according to Chang, "Going forward, the Tainan Science-Based Industrial Park will be TSMC's most important site for its semiconductor fab construction in Taiwan."