Last update: Friday 10 May 2013 [23 news items]
TSMC reiterates plans for 18-inch wafer manufacturing
May 10, 10:18
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC) has reiterated plans to build its first 450mm (18-inch) pilot production lines, which will offer FinFET transistor technology at...

Equipment maker Gudeng gearing up for contract business
Feb 19, 15:07
Gudeng Precision Industrial, which has developed handling equipment for the manufacture of 18-inch wafers, has unveiled plans to step into the contract-manufacturing market for automation...
TSMC to build pilot line for development of 18-inch wafer and 7nm process, says paper
Newswatch - Oct 24, 11:41
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC) has bought a land lot of 14.32 hectares in the Chunan base of Hsinchu Science Park (HSP) for NT$3.2 billion (US$109.1 million), and...
TSMC looks to build pilot 18-inch wafer line in 2016-2017
Sep 5, 12:17
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC) is on track in the development of 18-inch (450mm) wafers with the possibility to build a pilot line in 2016-2017 followed by mass...

Mass production of 18-inch wafers may extend to 2018
Aug 28, 01:10
Despite having investment from Intel, TSMC and Samsung Electronics, the 18-inch wafer generation anticipated by ASML may be delayed from 2016 to 2018. In addition, non-ASML equipment...
KLA-Tencor shipping 450mm-capable tools
Jul 12, 12:27
KLA-Tencor has announced the installation of its first process control systems capable of handling and inspecting 450mm wafers. Fully automated, the Surfscan SP3 450 meets the demanding...
Taiwan government to buy land for TSMC 18-inch plant, says paper
Newswatch - Jun 12, 16:07
Taiwan's Council for Economic Planning and Development (CEPD) has approved a project to assist Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC) to construct an 18-inch wafer fab...
NAND flash to be main driver for 18-inch wafers, says Gudeng chairman
Apr 27, 16:41
NAND flash, especially SSDs, will be the largest application for 18-inch silicon wafers in the future, CEO and chairman Bill Chiu of Gudeng Precision Industrial said at an April 26...
TSMC to enter volume production on 18-inch wafers as early as 2015
Dec 23, 10:32
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC) will maintain its plans to begin trial production on 18-inch wafers in the 2013-2014 timeframe, with volume production slated for...
Gudeng ready to ship 18-inch wafer handling equipment, says paper
Newswatch - Sep 9, 12:10
Taiwan-based Gudeng Precision Industrial, a semiconductor front-end equipment manufacturer specializing in mask solution products and wafer handling equipment, expects to start shipping...
450mm and EUV linked with uncertainty, says SEMI
Sep 9, 11:14
The transition to manufacturing semiconductors on larger wafers continues to be one of the hottest topics in the industry. However, uncertainty with EUV rollout has exacerbated the...
Semiconductor output on 12-inch wafers to nearly double by 2015, says IHS
Aug 24, 09:42
Semiconductor manufacturing using 12-inch wafers will see production nearly double from 2010 to 2015 as chip producers increasingly employ them for older, more mature products, according...
New fab could be compatible with 18-inch production tools, says TSMC
Dec 20, 17:00
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC) has said it remains flexible on its yet-to-be-built "Fab 16" supporting equipment used to make chips on 18-inch wafers...
12-inch wafers to be replaced by 18-inch in 2015, says Samsung senior VP
Feb 10, 11:26
Eighteen-inch wafers will replace 12-inch as the mainstream in 2015, according to Joo-Tai Moon, senior vice president of Samsung Electronics. Moon also noted that Asia is the fastest...
TSMC maintains 18-inch wafer tape-out in 2012
Oct 2, 12:30
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC) will maintain its plans to begin trial production on 18-inch wafers in 2012 despite a conservative outlook prevailing across most...
Globalfoundries calls for renewed focus on 300mm
Jul 14, 15:20
The semiconductor industry has long been preoccupied with smaller transistors and larger silicon wafers, in its effort to meet the ever-increasing demands of consumer technology....
Semiconductor equipment makers wary of 450mm development, says The Information Network
Apr 21, 10:01
The planned transition to 450mm diameter silicon wafers for semiconductor production will be disastrous for the equipment industry, The Information Network said.
MEMC to focus on solar and SOI, to develop 18-inch wafers
Apr 16, 16:36
US-based MEMC Electronic Materials has estimated that silicon wafer sales in the second quarter will outperform those in the first quarter. For 2009, the silicon wafer supplier intends...

Micron-Nanya camp to build IP for Taiwan DRAM, asking support from government
Apr 10, 15:28
The Micron-Nanya camp has similar goals to those of the Taiwan government in respect to restructuring the island's memory-chip industry, according to CJ Wu, chairman of Nanya Technology...

Weak economy will not stop 18-inch wafer development, says UMC
Dec 12, 01:10
United Microelectronics Corporation (UMC) has followed Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC) to announce that it is also developing 18-inch wafer production. Company CEO...

TSMC urges equipment and material suppliers to push for 18-inch wafer migration
Nov 18, 11:53
The transition to 18-inch wafer production may be interrupted by the current economic woes, but it is a necessary step the semiconductor industry has to take in order to increase...
Nov 6, 15:29
Taiwan has to overhaul its development of the DRAM industry otherwise the industry may encounter difficulties when trying to raise funds to move manufacturing to 18-inch wafers, according...
Jul 11, 13:50
While number-one semiconductor equipment supplier Applied Materials projects that semiconductor companies will trim their capital expenditure (capex) by 40% in 2008, and some leading...

- AUO aims at 20% market share for eTP touch panels for notebooks in 2013
- Digitimes Research: US new solar installations may only reach 3.5GW in 2013
- Solar cell prices may increase to US$0.43/W in Taiwan
- Sony Mobile to extend cooperation with ODM firms, says marketing executive
- Senao expanding retail chain in eastern China
- UDE likely to obtain orders from 2 game console vendors
- Lenovo 1Q13 net profit hikes 90% on year
- Phison warns several backend firms of possible patent infringement
- Facebook sets up OCP Taiwan
- Computex 2013: Memory module firms to showcase new SSDs
- Asia to be largest LTE market, says Nokia Siemens Networks greater China head
- ABB to produce PV inverters in South Africa
- TPV Technology suffers 1Q13 net loss of over US$10 million
- Digitimes Research: Seoul Semiconductor may see 2013 revenues up 40.3% on year
- Taiwan April manufacturing production index down, says MOEA
- Polarizer makers under price-cut pressure from clients
- AUO to supply panels for use in 2nd-gen Nexus 7, say sources
- US fab-tool book-to-bill stays above parity, says SEMI
- Intel, MediaTek and Elan taking up 60% of global touchscreen controller market
- HannStar to reach 95% utilization in 2Q13
- Windows 8 expected to take up 5-8% of global tablet shipments in 2013, say Taiwan makers
- Digitimes Research: Global LED tube light shipments to reach 220 million units in 2013
- Nvidia introduces GeForce GTX 780 GPU for gaming
- Quartz component maker TXC expects sales to rise through 4Q13
- Global LCD monitor OEM shipments down 14% on year in 1Q13, says TPV
- Releases
- White papers
- Bulletin
- GIGABYTE Launches the BRIX Ultra Compact PC Kit
- AEWIN Introduces Newest Multiplayer Gaming System SGA-5010
- Carry Technology Highlights Thunderbolt and Wi-Fi Card Reader Series
- Imagination says third party IP becoming a key driving force for silicon vendors
- EverFocus launches ECOR960 X1 16CH with better image quality and more affordable price
- Embracing the New Generation Intel Atom Family with DDR3 Memory Support
- Got The Message? Ensuring efficient and reliable delivery of content across a mission critical digital signage network
- Emb' Store On-Demand Software Service for Embedded Computing
- Efficient Network Management for Digital Signage
- Design Benefits of the MI/O Extension Solution
- ATO Solution Co., Ltd. to launch 1Gb SLC NAND Flash after 256Mb/512Mb mass production for the first time in Fab-less industry
- Chilisin's miniature power inductor in 0603/0805 sizes
- Chilisin introduces Thin-film chip inductor 0201 size
- Chilisin at 2012 electronics Munich A5/159 & 260
- Chilisin sunken-type molded power inductor for MXM Graphic application
24-May-2013 markets closed
| Last | Change |
| TAIEX (TSE) | 8209.78 | -28.05 | -0.34% |

| TSE electronic | 310.89 | -0.43 | -0.14% |

| GTSM (OTC) | 118.64 | -0.71 | -0.59% |

| OTC electronic | 143.77 | -0.29 | -0.2% |

- Infineon ships security chips to Taiwan electronic passport program (May 23) - Company release
- Apple 'among largest tax avoiders in US' - Senate committee (May 21) - BBC News
- Weak eurozone growth hits euro (May 15) - The Financial Times
- German factory orders rise for second month (May 7) - Bloomberg
- Eurozone retail sales fall for second consecutive month (May 6) - BBC News
- China economy to stay commodity-oriented, says JPMorgan (April 16) - Bloomberg
- S Korea in US$15.3 billion stimulus bid to spur economic growth (April 16) - BBC News
- Gold hit by sharpest tumble in 30 years (April 16) - CNN

Opportunity lies for MEMS energy harvesting: Q&A with Holst Centre general manager Bert Gyselinckx
Digitimes recently interviewed Bert Gyselinckx, general manager of the Holst Centre in Eindhoven, to...

Returning with stronger competitiveness: Q&A with Lu Li-Cheng, Chaintech chairman
Chaintech, a motherboard/graphics card maker, which quit the market once and returned recently, has...

MEMS-enabled energy harvesting: Q&A with MIG executive director Karen Lightman
Digitimes recently spoke with Karen Lightman, the executive director of MEMS Industry Group (MIG),...

Complete mobile platform solutions: Q&A with Broadcom executive VP Robert Rango
In a relentless competition against rivals including Qualcomm, Nvidia and Media in the smartphone chipset...
- Smartphone and tablet industry: The view from Taiwan - May 2012
Taiwan-based companies have a long and successful history of involvement in the supply chain for mobile devices, which for the purposes of this article consist...
- Taiwan motherboard industry overview - May 2012
The year 2011 saw the motherboard industry reverse its trend of declining shipments year-on-year, to post a slight 0.2% growth. This upturn in fortunes was expected...
- Notebook market overview - Jun 2011
The notebook industry in 2010 experienced several major events that significantly changed the industry's ecosystem for the year and the industry is also believed...
- LCD TV overview - Jun 2011
Growth of the global LCD TV market was not as strong as expected in 2010 as the market continued to feel the aftershocks of the economic recession that had hit...
- Trends and shipment forecast for 2H 2012 tablet market
Digitimes Research remains conservative about the prospects for the period, with half-year shipments projected to reach 49.18 million units and whole-year shipments being revised downward to 88.69 million units.
- Trends in the China video market
In addition to strong potential video content demand in China, the market has developed rapidly due to government intervention and delays in establishing copyright protections.
- 4Q12 trends in the Greater China touch panel industry
In the second half of 2012, the market focus is on the iPhone 5, which uses in-cell touch screen technology. Due to the integration of display panels and touch panel functions, the high technological threshold will mean Taiwan touch panel makers are unable to enter the iPhone supply chain.


















