November 7, 2001 – Hsinchu, Taiwan – Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. Ltd. announced at a Tokyo press conference its plans for investments, a new plant, and new technology to be used, according to Asia Biz Tech.

According to Chenming Hu, CTO, and Sachiaki Nagae, chairman of TSMC Japan KK, the company’s plans are to invest $300 million for R&D in 2001; to start mass production using 300mm wafers in November 2001 at its new plant, Fab12; and to employ 0.10-micron technology in mass production starting in 2002.

TSMC said the production of DVD players for 2002 spring models, third-generation cellular phones, game consoles, and compact hard disk drives have gone up, and the company is getting an increasing number of orders for SoCs.

TSMC is planning to focus on development of technology and plant construction for manufacturing SoC. TSMC will be using 300mm wafers at its Fab 12, and it expects to be capable of manufacturing up to 25,000 wafers/month. Fab12 is also equipped with 0.10-micron technology. Mass production using this technology is scheduled to begin in 2002.

TSMC’s long term plan is to invest $20 billion for the next 10 years to 15 years to build six new plants in Taiwan, as well as building plants outside the island.