SAN JOSE -- During a conference on Tuesday, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. Ltd. (TSMC) here said it remains committed to the pure-play foundry model and blasted its rivals that are apparently swerving in other directions.
Without identifying the companies by names, TSMC President Rick Tsai took pot shots at its competitors, reportedly including IBM Corp. and United Microelectronics Corp. (UMC). TSMC slammed its rivals at a time when competitors are slowly but surely taking business away from the company, especially IBM, according to analysts.
"We are a dedicated foundry," Tsai declared. "We will stay as a dedicated foundry. We do not want to compete against our customers," he said during a keynote address at the TSMC 2003 Technology Symposium.
Tsai was referring to one of its rivals, which has taken what he called the "Virtual IDM" strategy in the foundry business. He did not identify the company, but most believe the TSMC executive was referring to archrival UMC of Taiwan.
Recently, UMC has made the subtle shift from a pure-play foundry model to what it calls a "Virtual IDM." Hsinchu-based UMC has recently bought shares in a number of companies, including Silicon Integrated Systems and a subsidiary of Ali Corp., which has enabled UMC to install board members and influence the foundry of choice.
TSMC--the pioneer and leader in the foundry business--blasted the "Virtual IDM" model. "It's quite confusing to me," Tsai said.
He also was critical of the so-called "IDM Foundries," which includes the likes of Hynix, IBM, Toshiba, and other IDMs that happen to offer foundry services.
Referring to the "IDM Foundries" as a bunch of opportunists, Tsai said those companies "want to provide foundry services when they need to fill the fab."
During the keynote, Tsai also said that TSMC is in the quiet period and could not make forward-looking statements about the company. Next week, TSMC is expected to report its first-quarter results.
The executive did say the company will continue to ramp up its production, especially its 300-mm fabs. At present, the company has three 300-mm fab: Fab 12A, 12B, and 14.
TSMC plans to expand the production of its Fab 12A plant from 6,000 wafers a month right now, to 14,000 by year's end, he said. Capable of making 25,000 wafers a month, Fab12A is a 0.15- to 0.13-micron plant.
TSMC has also completed the shell and cleanroom for Fab12B, but the company has yet to install the equipment. The fab is capable of making 25,000 wafers a month, plus 5,000 more for R&D.
It has also completed the shell for the company's Fab14 plant. Capable of making 35,000 wafers a month, the company expects that Fab14 will move into production in 2003.
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