TSMC

Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company Limited (TSMC)
Native name
 台灣積體電路製造股份有限公司
Public limited
Traded as
Industry Pure-play semiconductor foundry
Founded Industrial Technology Research Institute, Hsinchu, Taiwan
(1987 (1987))
Founder Morris Chang
Headquarters Hsinchu Science and Industrial Park, Taiwan
Area served
 Worldwide
Key people
Brands CyberShuttle prototyping service, Open Innovation Platform, eFoundry online services
Production output
  • Increase15.67 million 8-inch equivalent wafers (2013)
  • 14.04 million 8-inch equivalent wafers (2012)
Services Manufacture of Integrated circuits and related services
Revenue
  • IncreaseNT$597 billion (US$20 billion) (2013)
  • NT$506 billion (US$17 billion) (2012)
  • IncreaseNT$281 billion (US$9.4 billion) (2013)
  • NT$244 billion (US$8.1 billion) (2012)
Profit
  • IncreaseNT$209 billion (US$7.0 billion) (2013)
  • NT$188 billion (US$6.2 billion) (2012)
Total assets
  • IncreaseNT$1,263 billion (2013)
  • NT$961 billion (2012)
Total equity
  • IncreaseNT$848 billion (2013)
  • NT$723 billion (2012)
Number of employees
 37,149 (2013)
Subsidiaries
  • WaferTech
  • TSMC China
  • SSMC
Website www.tsmc.com
Footnotes / references
[1]

Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company, Limited (TSMC; Chinese: 台灣積體電路製造公司; pinyin: Táiwān Jītǐ Diànlù Zhìzào Gōngsī), also known as Taiwan Semiconductor, is the world's largest dedicated independent (pure-play) semiconductor foundry, with its headquarters and main operations located in the Hsinchu Science and Industrial Park in Hsinchu, Taiwan.

Overview

Founded in Taiwan in 1987, TSMC was the world's first dedicated semiconductor foundry and has long been the leading company in its space.[2][3] In addition to semiconductors, the company has also begun investing in lighting and solar energy-related industries.[2] It is listed on both the Taiwan Stock Exchange and the New York Stock Exchange. Morris Chang serves as Chairman, while F.C. Tseng serves as Vice Chairman. Mark Liu and C.C. Wei serve as Presidents and co-CEOs.[4]

Although TSMC offers a variety of wafer product-lines (including high-voltage, mixed-signal, analog and MEMS[5]), it is best known for its logic chip product line with particular strength in advanced low-power processes such as 28 nm HPM with HKMG technology for mobile and high performance applications.[6][7]

Most of the leading fabless semiconductor companies such as Apple Inc., Qualcomm, NVIDIA, Advanced Micro Devices, MediaTek, Marvell, STMicroelectronics and Broadcom are customers of TSMC, as well as emerging players such as Spreadtrum, AppliedMicro, Allwinner Technology and HiSilicon,[8] and many smaller companies. Leading programmable logic device companies Xilinx and Altera also make use of TSMC's foundry services.[9] Some Integrated Device Manufacturers that have their own fabrication facilities like Intel and Texas Instruments outsource some of their production to TSMC.[10] At least one semiconductor company, LSI, re-sells TSMC wafers through its ASIC design services and design IP-portfolio.

The company has been increasing and upgrading its manufacturing capacity for most of its existence, although influenced by the demand cycles of the semiconductor industry. In 2011, the company planned to increase research and development expenditures by almost 39% to NT$50 billion in an effort to fend off growing competition.[11] The company also planned to expand capacity by 30% in 2011 to meet strong market demand.[12] In May 2014, TSMC's board of directors approved capital appropriations of US$568 million to establish, convert, and upgrade advanced technology capacity[13] after the company forecast higher than expected demand.[14] In August 2014, TSMC's board of directors approved additional capital appropriations of US$3.05 billion.[15]

In 2011, it was reported that TSMC had begun trial production of the A5 SoC and A6 SoCs for Apple's iPad and iPhone devices.[16][17] According to reports,[18] as of May 2014, Apple is sourcing its new A8 and A8X SoCs from TSMC[19][20] and later sourced the A9 SoC with both TSMC and Samsung(to increase volume for iPhone 6s launch) with the A9X being exclusively made by TSMC, thus resolving the issue of sourcing a chip in two different microarchitecture sizes. Apple has become TSMC's most important customer.[20][21]

TSMC's market capitalization reached a value of NT$1.9 trillion (US$63.4 billion) in December 2010.[22] It was ranked 70th in the FT Global 500 2013 list of the world's most highly valued companies with a capitalization of US$86.7 billion,[23] while reaching US$110 billion in May 2014.[24]

Facilities

Apart from its main base of operations in Hsinchu in Northern Taiwan, where several of its fab facilities are located, it also has leading-edge fabs in Southern Taiwan and Central Taiwan, with other fabs located at its subsidiaries TSMC China in Shanghai, China, WaferTech in Washington State, USA, and SSMC in Singapore,[25] and it has offices in China, Europe, India, Japan, North America, and South Korea.[26]

The following fabs are in operation as of 2014:[25]

The investment of US$9.4 billion to build its third 12-inch (300 mm) wafer fabrication facility in Central Taiwan Science Park (Fab 15) was originally announced in 2010.[27] The facility was expected to output over 100,000 wafers a month and generate $5 billion per year of revenue.[28] TSMC has continued to expand advanced 28 nm manufacturing capacity at Fab 15.[29]

On January 12, 2011, TSMC announced the acquisition of land from Powerchip Semiconductor for NT$2.9 billion (US$96 million) to build two additional 300 mm fabs to cope with increasing global demand,[30] which would result in Fab 12B.

TSMC has disclosed plans that it will build a 450 mm fab,[31] which would begin its pilot lines 2013, and production as early as 2015.[32]

WaferTech subsidiary

WaferTech, a subsidiary of TSMC, is a pure-play semiconductor foundry located in Camas, Washington, USA. It is the largest pure-play foundry in the United States. The facility employs 1100 workers.

WaferTech was established in June 1996 as a joint venture with TSMC, Altera, Analog Devices, and ISSI as key partners. The four companies along with minor individual investors invested US$1.2 billion into this venture, which was at the time the single largest startup investment in the state of Washington. The company started production in July 1998 in its 200 mm (8 inch) semiconductor fabrication plant. Its first product was a 0.35 micrometer part for Altera.

TSMC bought out the joint venture partners in 2000 and acquired full control, and currently operates it as a fully owned subsidiary.[33]

WaferTech is based in Camas, 20 miles (30 km) outside of Portland, Oregon. The WaferTech campus contains a 1 million square foot (90,000 m²) complex housed on 260 acres (1 km²). The main fabrication facility consists of a 130,000 square feet (12,000 m²) 200 mm (8 inch) wafer fabrication plant.

Sales and market trends

Yearly revenues in million NT$[34]
1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005
43,927 50,422 73,067 166,189 125,881 162,301 202,997 257,213 266,565
2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014
317,407 322,631 333,158 295,742 419,538 427,081 506,754 597,024 762,806
Quarterly revenues in million NT$[34][35][36]
Year Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4
2012 105,615 128,186 141,499 131,445
2013 132,755 155,886 162,577 145,806
2014 148,215 183,020 209,050 222,520
2015 222,034 205,500E

TSMC's sales have increased from NT$44 billion (US$1.5 billion) in 1997 to NT$763 billion (approximately US$25 billion) in 2014, while net income was NT$264 billion (US$9 billion) in 2014 with a gross profit margin of 50%.[35]

TSMC and the rest of the foundry industry are exposed to the highly cyclical nature of the semiconductor industry. During upturns, TSMC must ensure that it has enough production capacity to meet strong customer demand. However, during downturns, it must contend with excess capacity because of weaker demand, and the high fixed costs associated with its manufacturing facilities.[37] As a result, the company's financial results tend to fluctuate with a cycle time of a few years. This is more apparent in earnings than revenues because of the general trend of revenue and capacity growth. TSMC's business has generally also been seasonal with a peak in Q3 and a low in Q1.

In 2014, TSMC was at the forefront of the foundry industry for high-performance, low-power applications,[6][7] leading major smartphone chip companies such as Qualcomm,[38][39] Mediatek[39][40] and Apple[19][21] to place an increasing amount of orders.[6] While the competitors in the foundry industry (primarily GlobalFoundries and United Microelectronics Corporation) have encountered difficulties ramping leading-edge 28 nm capacity,[40] the leading Integrated Device Manufacturers such as Samsung and Intel that seek to offer foundry capacity to third parties were also unable to match the requirements for advanced mobile applications.[7]

For most of 2014, TSMC saw a continuing increase in revenues due to increased demand, primarily due to chips for smartphone applications. TSMC raised its financial guidance in March 2014 and posted ‘unseasonably strong’ first-quarter results.[41][14] For Q2 2014, revenues came in at NT$183 billion, with 28 nanometer technology business growing more than 30% from the previous quarter.[42] Lead times for chip orders at TSMC increased due to a tight capacity situation, putting fabless chip companies at risk of not meeting their sales expectations or shipment schedules,[43] and in August 2014 it was reported that TSMC's production capacity for the fourth quarter of 2014 was already almost fully booked, a scenario that had not occurred for many years, which was described as being due to a ripple-effect due to TSMC landing CPU orders from Apple.[44]

However, monthly sales for 2014 peaked in October, decreasing by 10% in November due to cautious inventory adjustment actions taken by some of its customers.[45] TSMC's revenue for 2014 saw growth of 28% over the previous year, while TSMC has forecast that revenue for 2015 will grow by 15 to 20 percent from 2014, thanks to strong demand for its 20 nm process, new 16 nm FinFET process technology as well as continuing demand for 28 nm, and demand for less advanced chip fabrication in its 8-inch fabs.[45]

Capital investments for equipment to boost production capacity were estimated to be almost US$10 billion in 2014, while capital spending for 2015 is estimated to be between US$10.5 billion and US$11.0 billion.[36][45]

In April 2015, TSMC lowered its expectations for the second quarter of 2015 due to a combination of customers' business loss, inventory adjustment, and a less favorable exchange rate, with revenues expected to decline about 8% from Q1 2015, although it expects a recovery in the second half of 2015.[36]

In October 2014, ARM and TSMC announced a new multi-year agreement for the development of ARM based 10 nm FinFET processors.[46]

See also

References

  1. ↑ "Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company Limited". TSMC. Retrieved 2014-05-19.
  2. 1 2 "Company Profile". TSMC. Retrieved 2010-12-20.
  3. ↑ "D&R Foundry Corner". Design & Reuse. Retrieved 2014-05-18.
  4. ↑ "Corporate Executives". TSMC. Retrieved 2010-12-20.
  5. ↑ "TSMC Holds Top Honors as World’s Largest Pure Play MEMS Foundry, with Blistering 200 Percent Growth". IHS Technology. 2012-07-16. Retrieved 2014-05-23.
  6. 1 2 3 "Smartphones, 28nm Tech Drive TSMC 1Q Revenue". EE Times. 2014-04-17. Retrieved 2014-05-23.
  7. 1 2 3 "Qualcomm pending to add SMIC to 28nm vendor list". SimmTester.com. 2014-03-14. Retrieved 2014-05-18.
  8. ↑ Abrams, Randy (2013-11-25), Asia Semiconductor Sector (Sector Review), Asia Pacific Equity Research, Credit Suisse, pp. 1, 3
  9. ↑ "Morris Chang on Altera and Intel". SemiWiki. 2013-04-25. Retrieved 2014-05-23.
  10. ↑ "Intel Outsourcing Some Atom Manufacturing to TSMC". The Oregonian. 2009-03-02.
  11. ↑ Lisa Wang (2010-12-21). "TSMC plans to increase research spending". Taipei Times. Retrieved 2010-12-20.
  12. ↑ "TSMC to expand capacity by 30% in 2011". China Knowledge. 2010-12-08. Retrieved 2010-12-20.
  13. ↑ "TSMC Board of Directors Meeting Resolutions". TSMC. 2014-05-13. Retrieved 2014-05-18.
  14. 1 2 "TSMC forecasts 22 percent Q2 growth". Taipei Times. 2014-04-18. Retrieved 2014-05-18.
  15. ↑ "TSMC Board of Directors Meeting Resolutions". TSMC. 2014-08-12. Retrieved 2014-08-16.
  16. ↑ "TSMC Kicks Off A6 Processor Trial Production with Apple". Chinese Economic News Service. 2011-08-12. Retrieved 2011-09-13.
  17. ↑ "TSMC Beginning Production Of Apple’s New A6 Processor". Techcrunch. 2011-08-12. Retrieved 2011-09-13.
  18. ↑ "Apple begins receiving shipments of A-series processors from TSMC - report". AppleInsider. 2014-07-10. Retrieved 2014-11-02.
  19. 1 2 "TSMC to Snatch All of Apple’s A8 chip Orders?". TechNews. 2014-02-17. Retrieved 2014-05-18.
  20. 1 2 "Apple driving move to 64-bit mobile processors, TSMC says". CNET. 2014-04-17. Retrieved 2014-05-23.
  21. 1 2 "Apple chips to be 20% of TSMC sales". Taipei Times. 2014-04-15. Retrieved 2014-05-18.
  22. ↑ "Market capitalization of TSMC reaches a historic high: CEO". AsiaOne Business. 2010-12-21. Retrieved 2010-12-20.
  23. ↑ "FT 500 2013". Financial Times. Retrieved 2014-05-18.
  24. ↑ "TSM". Yahoo! Finance. Retrieved 2014-05-18.
  25. 1 2 "Fab Locations". TSMC. Retrieved 2014-05-18.
  26. ↑ "Business Contacts". TSMC. Retrieved 2014-05-18.
  27. ↑ "UPDATE 1-TSMC says plans $9.4 bln Taiwan plant". Reuters. 2010-07-16. Retrieved 2010-07-16.
  28. ↑ "Analyst Warns Of Semiconductor Monopoly". Information Week. 2010-07-21. Retrieved 2010-07-22.
  29. ↑ "TSMC increases 28nm output". fudzilla. 2012-12-07. Retrieved 2014-05-19.
  30. ↑ "TSMC Acquires PSC Land for New Fab Construction". Taiwan Economic News. 2011-01-13. Retrieved 2011-01-13.
  31. ↑ "TSMC tips 450mm fab". EETimes. Retrieved 2014-05-19.
  32. ↑ "TSMC to make FinFETs in 450-mm fab". EETimes. Retrieved 2014-05-19.
  33. ↑ "Company News; Chip maker is buying out three WaferTech partners". The New York Times. 2000-12-15. Retrieved 2014-05-22.
  34. 1 2 "TSMC". DigiTimes Finance. Retrieved 2014-05-18.
  35. 1 2 "Financial Reports". TSMC. Retrieved 2014-05-18.
  36. 1 2 3 "TSMC Reports First Quarter EPS of NT$3.05". TSMC. 2015-04-16. Retrieved 2015-04-19.
  37. ↑ "Mobile chips are driving strong demand for TSMC's manufacturing services". Morningstar. 2014-05-09. Retrieved 2014-05-18.
  38. ↑ "Qualcomm Snapdragon 800 Processor First to Use TSMC's 28HPM Advanced Process Technology". TSMC. 2013-02-25. Retrieved 2014-05-18.
  39. 1 2 "TSMC banking on 28nm shipments". Taipei Times. 2013-06-06. Retrieved 2014-05-18.
  40. 1 2 "MediaTek adding more 28nm chip orders at TSMC, UMC due to production defects at Globalfoundries". DigiTimes. 2014-05-06. Retrieved 2014-05-18.
  41. ↑ "TSMC Updates 1Q'14 Guidance". Taipei Times. 2014-03-01. Retrieved 2014-05-18.
  42. ↑ "TSMC Reports Second Quarter EPS of NT$2.30". TSMC. 2014-07-16. Retrieved 2014-08-16.
  43. ↑ "TSMC extends 28nm production lead time to 16 weeks". DigiTimes. 2014-05-09. Retrieved 2014-05-17.
  44. ↑ "TSMC 4Q14 production capacity almost fully booked". DigiTimes. 2014-08-14. Retrieved 2014-08-16.
  45. 1 2 3 "TSMC revenue shrinks as clients adjust inventories". Taipei Times. 2014-12-11. Retrieved 2015-01-06.
  46. ↑ "ARM Partnered With TSMC For 10nm FinFET Processors". GSM Insider. Retrieved 2014-10-08.

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