News & Analysis
TSMC's Chang: 'The worst is behind us' on 28-nm
Dylan McGrath
4/17/2012 11:20 PM EDT
SAN JOSE, Calif.—Morris Chang, chairman and CEO of Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. Ltd. (TSMC), acknowledged Tuesday (April 17) that the foundry giant has experienced issues at the 28-nm node, but said the problems were related to capacity, not yield.
Chang told an audience at TSMC's annual technology symposium that TSMC's 28-nm yields have from the beginning been in line with the firm's projections.
"Yes, we had some difficulties with 28-nm, but those difficulties had to do with not having enough capacity, not yields," Chang said.
Chang acknowledged that TSMC has been dogged by persistent rumors about its 28-nm yields. In January, Mike Bryant, a technology analyst with Future Horizons Ltd. said TSMC was in trouble with its 28-nm technology, saying the processes were not yielding well. Last month, unsubstantiated rumors circulated that TSMC had shut down its 28-nm production in February. At the time, a TSMC spokeswoman declined to comment, citing company policy against commenting on rumors, but added that the firm's 28-nm process was "normal."
Chang said TSMC's investments in capacity expansion for 28-nm production have helped the firm alleviate the 28-nm capacity crunch. He noted that TSMC planned to invest more than $7 billion in capital expenditures in 2012, up from about $7 billion in 2011, $5 billion in 2010 and $2 billion in 2009.
"With capacity coming online, I do believe the worst is behind us," Chang said.
Taiwanese IT publication Digitimes said in a report Tuesday that two stalwart TSMC customers, Qualcomm Inc. and Nvidia Corp., approached other foundries about producing 28-nm chips for them because of tight 28-nm capacity at TSMC. The report cited unnamed sources at semiconductor tool makers.
Chang told an audience at TSMC's annual technology symposium that TSMC's 28-nm yields have from the beginning been in line with the firm's projections.
"Yes, we had some difficulties with 28-nm, but those difficulties had to do with not having enough capacity, not yields," Chang said.
Chang acknowledged that TSMC has been dogged by persistent rumors about its 28-nm yields. In January, Mike Bryant, a technology analyst with Future Horizons Ltd. said TSMC was in trouble with its 28-nm technology, saying the processes were not yielding well. Last month, unsubstantiated rumors circulated that TSMC had shut down its 28-nm production in February. At the time, a TSMC spokeswoman declined to comment, citing company policy against commenting on rumors, but added that the firm's 28-nm process was "normal." Chang said TSMC's investments in capacity expansion for 28-nm production have helped the firm alleviate the 28-nm capacity crunch. He noted that TSMC planned to invest more than $7 billion in capital expenditures in 2012, up from about $7 billion in 2011, $5 billion in 2010 and $2 billion in 2009.
"With capacity coming online, I do believe the worst is behind us," Chang said.
Taiwanese IT publication Digitimes said in a report Tuesday that two stalwart TSMC customers, Qualcomm Inc. and Nvidia Corp., approached other foundries about producing 28-nm chips for them because of tight 28-nm capacity at TSMC. The report cited unnamed sources at semiconductor tool makers.
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goafrit
4/18/2012 3:31 PM EDT
I missed the news then. I did not even know TSMC was having an issue at 28nm. I just assumed they have the market share to expand to any capacity they want.
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Daniel Payne
4/18/2012 4:25 PM EDT
Mr. Nenni of SemiWiki has been saying since March that the 28nm rumors about TSMC shutting down production were false, http://www.semiwiki.com/forum/content/1091-tsmc-absolutely-did-not-halt-28nm-production.html
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dylan.mcgrath
4/18/2012 5:49 PM EDT
I would agree with Mr. Nenni 100% on that. I checked with several sources and found that it was highly unlikely that TSMC shut down 28-nm production. I reported this in the EE Times Forum, also in March:
http://www.eetimes.com/electronics-news/4237431/AMD-relinquishes-stake-in-Globalfoundries
The point of mentioning this rumor in the story was to support the statement that TSMC has been dogged by rumors about it's 28-nm process.
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PV-Geek
4/19/2012 12:18 PM EDT
The real issue at TSMC may remain a mystery but it that doesn't change the fact that Qualcomm, nVidia and others are looking at second sources. True or not that potentially hurts market share.
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Steve_Chang
4/19/2012 11:27 PM EDT
So, what is the actual yield rate? anybody?
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