SAN JOSE -- Morris Chang, chairman and CEO of TaiwanSemiconductor Manufacturing Co Ltd (TSMC), acknowledged Tuesday (April 17) thatthe foundry giant has experienced issues at the 28-nm node, but said theproblems were related to capacity, not yield.
Chang told an audience at TSMC's annual technology symposiumthat TSMC's 28-nm yields have from the beginning been in line with the firm'sprojections.
"Yes, we had some difficulties with 28-nm, but thosedifficulties had to do with not having enough capacity, not yields," Changsaid.
Chang acknowledged that TSMC has been dogged by persistentrumors about its 28-nm yields. In January, Mike Bryant, a technology analystwith Future Horizons Ltd, said TSMC was in trouble with its 28-nm technology,saying the processes were not yielding well. Last month, unsubstantiated rumorscirculated that TSMC had shut down its 28-nm production in February. At thetime, a TSMC spokeswoman declined to comment, citing company policy againstcommenting on rumors, but added that the firm's 28-nm process was"normal."
Chang said TSMC's investments in capacity expansion for28-nm production have helped the firm alleviate the 28-nm capacity crunch. Henoted that TSMC planned to invest more than $7 billion in capital expendituresin 2012, up from about $7 billion in 2011, $5 billion in 2010 and $2 billion in2009.
"With capacity coming online, I do believe the worst isbehind us," Chang said.
Taiwanese IT publication Digitimes said in a report Tuesdaythat two stalwart TSMC customers, Qualcomm Inc and Nvidia Corp, approachedother foundries about producing 28-nm chips for them because of tight 28-nmcapacity at TSMC. The report cited unnamed sources at semiconductor toolmakers.
This story was originally posted by EETimes.
