Taiwanese chip shop opens new fab

TSMC pumps up the volume

Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing (TSMC) has opened its latest chip fab earlier than expected, due it says, to surging demands.

The company - which makes silicon for some of the world's biggest tech companies including Nvidia, AMD, Texas Instruments and Qualcomm - opened phase five of its Fab 12 complex in Hsinchu province earlier today. The facility, which covers 83,000 square metres, has a clean room the size of three football fields, and will house more than 4,500 employees.

In addition to volume production of 28nm products, Fab 12, Phase 5 will also serve as the base for research and development of 22nm and more advanced process technologies. Currently, TSMC is conducting R&D for 28nm and 22nm process technologies at its Fab 12, Phase 1 and 2 facilities, and will hand 28nm technology to the Phase 5 facility for volume production in the fourth quarter of this year.

TSMC will also soon begin construction on Fab 14, Phase 4 located at its Tainan site. Groundbreaking is scheduled following the end of Chinese New Year, with the facility complete and ready for equipment move-in at the end of this year.