Asia/Pacific

07/01/1998

Asia/Pacific

Anticipating a second-half surge in foundry business, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. (TSMC) will maintain its plans for a 40% capacity expansion in 1998 and expects to be running flat out by the end of the year. In addition, as part of its strategy of attaining process technology parity with the world`s top chipmakers, the foundry giant expects to take the first designs for pilot 0.18-?m production early in the third quarter, and start production ramp of the next-generation geometry in early 1999. The 3Q will also see groundbreaking for TSMC`s first 300-mm fab, Fab 7 in Taiwan`s Tainan Industrial Park, although the schedule for equipping the facility and bringing it online is still somewhat sketchy.

Altus Technologies Pte. Ltd., Singapore, a supplier of fab equipment, and SAL Inc., South Burlington, VT, an x-ray lithography company, have formed a joint venture company in Singapore called Singapore Advanced Lithography Pte. Ltd. Altus` president and CEO Benny Woon said he wants to build a core team of x-ray lithography research and applications engineers in Singapore, and advance Singapore`s efforts to become a major semiconductor research and manufacturing center.