Taiwan-based Wafer Works, which makes small- to medium-sized semiconductor-grade wafers, plans to ramp its wafer-producing capacity in 2010 due to increasing orders. The company has revealed it will initially ramp up the output of its 6-inch production lines to 600,000 wafers a month in mid-June from 500,000 units at present, followed by additional ramps to be carried out in the first quarter of next year.
Wafer Works said it will implement a capacity expansion project at its Yangmei, Taoyuan plant, in the second half of 2010. The company is also set to undergo capacity expansion at its newly-established plant in the Longtan Science Park, Taoyuan in the first quarter of 2011. The latter expansion will focus on 8-inch wafers.
Wafer Works is positive about the market for 8-inch wafers, thanks to increased demand for power management ICs and the China market, the company noted.
Wafer Works has seen order visibility stretch to the second quarter of 2010, according to the company, adding that its manufacturing facilities in Taiwan and China are all running at full capacity. Orders have significantly exceeded capacity, the company said.
In other news, Wafer Works' epitaxy wafer subsidiary Wafer Works Epitaxial has cut into the supply chains of several foundries for automotive ICs in China, according to a Chinese-language Commercial Times report. The foundries include Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company's (TSMC's) Songjiang, China fab, Hejian Technology and Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corporation (SMIC).
Located in Shanghai, Wafer Works Epitaxial produces 6- and 8-inch epitaxial wafers and plays a part in its parent company's vertically-integrated business model.
Article translated by Jessie Shen
