News
Earlier, a report from a Japanese media outlet The Daily Industrial News indicated that memory giant Micron planned to build a new DRAM plant in Hiroshima, with construction scheduled to begin in early 2026 and aiming for completion of plant buildings and first tool-in by the end of 2027.
According to industry sources cited by TechNews, Micron is expected to invest between JPY 600 to 800 billion in the new facility, located adjacent to the existing Fab15 facility. Initially, the new plant will focus on DRAM production, excluding backend packaging and testing, with a capacity emphasis on HBM products.
Micron’s new Hiroshima plant will be the first to adopt Extreme Ultraviolet (EUV) lithography equipment, producing new advanced 1-Gamma process DRAM developed in collaboration between Taiwan and Japan. Subsequently, it will also transition to the 1-Delta process, leading to a significant increase in EUV tool-ins and heightened cleanroom facilities.
As for Fab 15 in Hiroshima, it serves as a mass production site for HBM, handling front-end wafer production and Through-Silicon Via (TSV) processes, while back-end stacking and testing processes are managed by the Taichung back-end plant in Taiwan. Market reports cited by TechNews also suggest that due to expanding demand for HBM, Micron’s facilities in Taiwan will commence HBM production and TSV processes starting next year.
TrendForce points out that due to robust growth in the HBM market, lower production yields, larger chip sizes, and other factors, producing the same bit output in HBM requires approximately three times the wafer input compared to DDR5, potentially squeezing traditional DRAM capacity.
Given Micron’s need to accelerate its penetration into the HBM market, and with its 2025 production capacity already fully booked by customers, the construction of a new plant becomes imperative. Micron also plans to maintain its HBM product line market share at 20% to 25% by 2025, eyeing on increasing it to match traditional DRAM levels.
The new Hiroshima plant has also received subsidies from the Japanese government. In October last year, Japan’s Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry announced subsidies totaling JPY 192 billion for Micron’s construction and equipment expenses. Additionally, subsidies of up to JPY 8.87 billion for production costs and JPY 25 billion for research and development costs were provided.
Read more
(Photo credit: Micron)
News
With high demand for AI chips from major players like NVIDIA and AMD, the capacity for advanced packaging falls short of meeting demand. Industry sources cited in a report from the Economic Daily News indicate that TSMC’s new CoWoS facility in the Southern Taiwan Science Park in Chiayi is now undergoing environmental impact assessments, prompting the commencement of equipment procurement.
Additionally, considering the insufficiency of planned CoWoS facilities in the Chiayi park, TSMC is reportedly sending representatives to survey additional land for potential expansion.
Regarding these developments, TSMC stated on June 11 that they do not comment on market rumors.
With the rapid development of AI applications, the demand for advanced packaging in the chip market has surged. TSMC, serving as the major foundry partner for tech giants like NVIDIA and AMD in AI chip production, has faced continuous high demand for advanced packaging capacity for some time. The company has been actively expanding related capacity and is now venturing into building a new CoWoS facility in the Southern Taiwan Science Park in Chiayi.
According to the information previously announced by the Chiayi County government, TSMC’s advanced packaging facility will occupy approximately 20 hectares in the Southern Taiwan Science Park, with the first facility covering around 12 hectares. The first advanced packaging fab is expected to be completed by the end of 2026, creating 3,000 job opportunities. TSMC initially plans to build two advanced packaging facilities in the area.
According to official information from TSMC, its backend test and packaging facilities include the Hsinchu Advanced Backend Fab 1, Southern Taiwan Science Park Advanced Backend Fab 2, Longtan Advanced Backend Fab 3, Central Taiwan Science Park Backend Advanced Fab 5, and Miaoli Zhunan Advanced Backend Fab 6.
Industry sources cited by the same report from the Economic Daily News further indicate that advanced packaging-related equipment is currently being gradually supplied to TSMC’s Zhunan, Central Taiwan, and Southern Taiwan fabs, with shipments to the Chiayi facility expected to commence from the third quarter of next year.
TSMC Chairman C.C. Wei previously mentioned that despite their efforts to increase capacity, the strong demand from customers has led to an insufficient supply, which has led to outsourcing to specialized packaging and testing foundries. He emphasized TSMC’s ongoing expansion of CoWoS advanced packaging capacity, with the goal of doubling their in-house capacity growth this year and continuing efforts into next year to narrow the gap between supply and demand.
TSMC has integrated its advanced packaging-related technologies into the “3DFabric” platform, allowing customers to select and configure according to their needs. The front-end technologies include System on Integrated Chip (SoIC), while the back-end assembly and testing technologies include Integrated Fan-Out (InFO) and the CoWoS series family.
In June 2023, TSMC announced the official opening of its Advanced Backend Fab 6 located in the Zhunan Science Park, becoming its first fully automated advanced packaging and testing facility to realize integrated front-end to back-end processes and testing services under the 3DFabric platform.
Read more
(Photo credit: TSMC)
News
Charles Liang, President and CEO of AI server giant Supermicro, delivered a keynote speech at COMPUTEX earlier today. According to a report from CNA, while expressing his optimism in expanding the company’s market share in the Direct Liquid Cooling (DLC) field, Liang targets to capture a 15% market share in the new data center market by next year.
According to the report, Liang mentioned that Supermicro’s DLC solutions had a market share of less than 1% over the past 30 years. However, as DLC solutions now have a cost comparable to air-cooled solutions, yet more energy-efficient, more manufacturers are beginning to adopt them. It is estimated that Supermicro has around 1000 liquid-cooled cabinets shipped each month, and the aim is to capture 15% of the new data center market share within next year.
Supermicro offers comprehensive solutions at both the cabinet and data center levels. Its operations have expanded globally from the headquarter in San Jose, California, to manufacturing and operation centers in Asia and Europe. Liang stated that Supermicro’s Malaysian plant is expected to be operational in the fourth quarter of this year, with a monthly production capacity of up to 5000 cabinets, according to CNA’s report today.
Regarding Supermicro’s expansion plans, Liang said earlier that Supermicro, with over 4000 employees worldwide, its top priority would be expanding in Taiwan, aiming to finalize plans for a new campus in the near future.
In addition, Liang pointed out that AI is rapidly and significantly changing the world. Through its collaboration with GPU giant NVIDIA, Supermicro has become one of the leading suppliers of AI systems. He also emphasized that by adopting more energy-efficient systems, green computing can be cost-free and offer significant bonuses, according to the report.
While reiterating Supermicro’s strong bond with NVIDIA, Liang invited NVIDIA CEO Jensen Huang to join him on stage. When Liang introduced the liquid-cooled server cabinets on stage, Huang praised the liquid cooling solution for significantly reducing data center costs.
Read more
(Photo credit: Supermicro)
News
TSMC, the world’s leading foundry, held its shareholders’ meeting on June 4th. This marked the last shareholders’ meeting chaired by TSMC Chairman Mark Liu.
According to a report from Commercial Times, with the conclusion of the era of TSMC’s dual leadership, the baton will be passed to President C.C. Wei to lead TSMC forward. During Liu’s final shareholders’ meeting, Liu further discussed TSMC’s future development plans.
Liu views the demand for AI optimistically, believing that this year will be one of significant growth for TSMC. He indicates that although last year had a lower base, the ongoing surge in global AI and server deployments continues to drive demand for advanced semiconductors in the market. Consequently, he holds deep confidence in TSMC’s future growth.
Meanwhile, Liu also emphasized that they are accelerating investment and future development, particularly in addressing the insatiable demand for AI computing power. Liu then highlighted their approach to tackling challenges head-on, noting that this ongoing process of learning and overcoming obstacles has fostered high levels of trust from their customers.
Additionally, when asked about the possibility of increasing capital expenditure to meet AI demand leading to a slowdown in dividend growth, Liu responded that TSMC’s growth and capital expenditure for the next five years will be continuously reviewed on a monthly basis.
CFO Wendell Huang elaborated further on whether capital expenditure affects dividend distribution, stating that TSMC plans capacity based on long-term demand and is not influenced by short-term economic fluctuations. After deducting capital expenditure, 70% of free cash flow will be allocated for dividend distribution, thus cash dividends are expected to increase gradually.
Regarding the issue of water and power shortages in Taiwan, Mark Liu mentioned that TSMC’s electricity consumption accounts for 8% of Taiwan’s total electricity usage this year and is expected to reach around 11-12% by 2030.
TSMC President C.C. Wei remarked that 2023 posed significant challenges for the global semiconductor industry. He noted that while the world economy was recovering from over two years of the pandemic, overall, it remained relatively sluggish. Factors such as persistent high inflation and interest rates also impacted the semiconductor industry’s inventory adjustment cycle.
Still, C.C. Wei highlighted that despite challenges, TSMC’s technological edge propelled the company to outperform the semiconductor manufacturing industry in 2023. This advantageous positions them well to capitalize on future growth opportunities in AI and High-Performance Computing.
Wei also underscored TSMC’s pivotal role as a driving force behind the rise of generative AI-related applications last year. He believes that AI models require more powerful semiconductor hardware support, which necessitates the use of the most advanced semiconductor manufacturing process technology.
Additionally, Wei highlighted TSMC’s achievements in 2023. These achievements include shipping 12 million equivalent wafers of 12-inch diameter, with sales from advanced process technologies (7 nanometers and below) accounting for 58% of total wafer sales, a 5% increase from the previous year. Furthermore, TSMC offers 288 different process technologies, producing nearly 12,000 different products for 528 customers.
Amidst competitors’ pursuit, Mark Liu emphasizes TSMC’s serious consideration of every competitor, as there will always be competitors regardless of who they are. Currently, TSMC maintains a technological lead, focusing on whether TSMC’s pace of progress surpasses that of its competitors. TSMC aims to progress faster than others and believes it’s unlikely to be overtaken.
C.C. Wei also mentioned that AI applications are vast and in their early stages. Due to TSMC’s technological leadership, the company is in a highly advantageous position and currently faces no competitors.
On the potential expansion of capital expenditure, Wei states that TSMC will proceed with utmost caution and vigilance. The investment strategy in the upcoming years will remain unchanged, meticulously considering capital expenditure plans and capacity planning based on market demand. Whether it will exceed the previous USD 100 billion over three years remains to be seen.
Regarding the cost of setting up plants in the U.S. and issues related to the U.S. presidential election, Mark Liu stated that although establishing plants in the U.S. is expensive, TSMC manages to keep costs lower than its competitors.
He further noted that the fragmentation of production bases is an global trend, with most Taiwanese companies moving in this direction.
When asked whether customers are demanding the relocation of products or production to the U.S. or other regions, C.C. Wei acknowledged that the instability between China and Taiwan is a concern for the supply chain.
While the issue has been discussed, he emphasized that relocating all production from Taiwan, which accounts for about 80-90% of TSMC’s capacity, is “impossible.” TSMC hopes for no conflict between the two sides, as it would raise concerns far beyond the semiconductor industry.
Read more
(Photo credit: TSMC)
News
The 2024 Computex Taipei has kicked off, with NVIDIA CEO Jensen Huang delivering a speech on the industry’s prospects and future amidst the AI wave. According to a report from Commercial Times, during a media interview on the evening of June 3, Huang revealed plans for NVIDIA to establish an R&D center in Taiwan within the next five years.
Jensen Huang pointed out that NVIDIA already has a great AI research team. He confirmed the importance of Taiwanese partners, stating that TSMC is very important to NVIDIA’s operations, as well as expressing gratitude to partners such as Foxconn, Quanta, and ASUS for their support.
Huang further mentioned that within the next five years, NVIDIA will set up a large design center in Taiwan, indicating that the GPU giant is looking for a very spacious location and will hire at least 1,000 engineers.
When asked by the media about the speculation regarding his meeting with AMD CEO Lisa Su, Huang revealed that he did not attend her speech but acknowledged that AMD is a great company. He mentioned that he doesn’t expect to meet Su but didn’t rule it out the possiblity completely, adding that if it happens, he would welcome it.
Read more
(Photo credit: AMD)