November 1, 2006 – Semiconductor affiliates under the Formosa Plastics Group are planning to spend roughly $3 billion in 2007 to expand their 300mm wafer fab expansions, collectively exceeding the level of top foundry Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. (TSMC), according to the Taiwan Economic News.
Nanya Technology Corp. expects to spend around $2.1 billion, with another $1.2 billion in capital expenditures from Inotera Memories. That amount also outstrips planned investments by most Taiwanese suppliers of thin-film transistor liquid-crystal display (TFT-LCD) suppliers, including AU Optronics Corp. and Chi Mei Optoelectronics Corp.
Among other billion-dollar-club spenders in 2007: TSMC ($2.4 billion), PowerChip Semiconductor Corp. ($1.8-$2.1 billion), United Microelectronics Corp. (UMC), and ProMos Technologies Inc. (each $1.2 billion). Nanya, Inotera, PSC, and ProMos are all in the market for buying new 300mm toolsets, while TSMC and UMC will increase investments only marginally next year, mainly focusing spending on 65nm processes, the paper noted.