Taiwan semiconductors

(Subscribe to our Today's Cache newsletter for a quick snapshot of top 5 tech stories. Click here to subscribe for free.) A U.S. national security commission on Monday recommended Congress tighten up "choke points" on chipmaking technology to prevent China from overtaking the United States in semiconductors in the coming years. The National Security Commission on Artificial Intelligence (NSCAI), led by former Google Chairman Eric Schmidt, recommended clamping down on China's ability to procure the manufacturing equipment needed to make advanced computing chips. Such chips are used in surveillance technologies such as facial recognition. "China is making an aggressive push to promote authoritarianism around the world," an NSCAI official told Reuters. "It boils down to semiconductors." Much chip making equipment comes from U.S. firms such as Applied Materials Inc and Lam Research Corp which are already subject to American export controls. But keygear also comes from firms such … [Read more...] about U.S. panel recommends export ‘choke points’ to prevent Chinese dominance in semiconductors

SINGAPORE: Semiconductor manufacturer Systems on Silicon Manufacturing Company (SSMC) is boosting its production in Singapore with the opening of a new facility on Tuesday (Nov 27). Built with an investment of S$300 million, the Annex 10 cleanroom facility represents a 34 per cent increase in space for the firm's automotive and specialty chip manufacturing. SSMC added that the facility, which is next to its existing site at Paris Ris Industrial Drive 1, will boost its automotive wafers production by 40 per cent with a potential increase up to 60 per cent by 2023. It will also be a learning lab for the use of Industry 4.0 solutions, and has led to the creation of about 100 jobs. SSMC has tapped robotic automation as well as the use of Internet of Things devices to improve its manufacturing setup. Smart solutions which have proven to work well in Singapore will be used in its other affiliated facilities such as NXP Semiconductor’s manufacturing facility in Austin, Texas. SSMC … [Read more...] about Semiconductor firm SSMC opens new S$300m facility in Singapore

REUTERS: The U.S. government has been slow to approve licenses for American companies like Lam Research and Applied Materials to sell chipmaking equipment to China semiconductor giant SMIC, even as a global shortage has supercharged chip demand, several sources said. Licenses for U.S. suppliers to ship much of an estimated US$5 billion dollars' worth of parts and components still have not come through, industry sources said, though many companies sought them soon after the company was blacklisted in December. Certain licenses have been granted, including for small numbers of expensive equipment in recent days. As policy shifts under President Joe Biden, who took over from Donald Trump in January, U.S. government agencies led by new appointees still haven't completely decided what should be sold to Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corp, which produces chips for Qualcomm and other American companies. The Trump administration placed SMIC on the U.S. Department of … [Read more...] about Exclusive: US suppliers to Chinese chip giant SMIC slow to get export licenses

When Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. outlined plans to build a fab in the U.S., it set a rather modest production capacity goal of around 20,000 wafer starts per month (WSPM). Nowadays chipmakers tend to build larger fabs in a bid to minimize their costs per wafer. But according to a new unconfirmed report via UDN the company might be planning several phases of expansions for its Arizona plant. UDN this week reported that internal rumors at TSMC intends to build not one, but 'six fabs in the Arizona plant area' in a bid to expand the site to the so-called 'MegaFab-class' facility. TSMC naturally does not comment on unannounced plans. Furthermore, it is uncommon for chip producers to share strategic plans outside of top management. This does not mean that the report is completely baseless. Based on TSMC's classification, a MegaFab has capacity of around 25,000 WSPM, so its planned facility in Arizona can already be called a MegaFab, which is why its 'expansion' to … [Read more...] about TSMC Rumored to Increase Capacity of Arizona Fab

REUTERS: The U.S. government has been slow to approve licenses for American companies like Lam Research and Applied Materials to sell chipmaking equipment to China semiconductor giant SMIC, several sources said, as the impact from global shortage spreads. Licenses for U.S. suppliers to ship much of an estimated US$5 billion dollars' worth of parts and components still have not come through, industry sources said, though many companies sought them soon after the company was blacklisted in December. Certain licenses have been granted, including for small numbers of expensive equipment in recent days. As policy shifts under President Joe Biden, who took over from Donald Trump in January, U.S. government agencies led by new appointees still haven't completely decided what should be sold to Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corp, which produces chips for Qualcomm and other American companies. The Trump administration placed SMIC on the U.S. Department of Commerce's … [Read more...] about Exclusive: Amid shortage US suppliers to Chinese chip giant SMIC struggle to get export licenses