Lite-On Semiconductor Corporation (LSC) announced that it will add an 8-inch wafer fab in Taiwan that will target production of analog, power management IC (PWM IC) and LCD driver ICs.
Driven by an observed shortage of various components, LSC said it would invest about NT$1.5 billion (US$45.9 million) in a new 8-inch wafer fab to be located in Hsinchu, Taiwan. Construction has already started and the fab is expected to commence production in the first quarter of 2009 at the earliest.
The fab will house a targeted monthly capacity of 24,000 wafers. Major processes at the fab will be analog, BiCMOS, and bipolar-CMOS-DMOS (BCD), with the most advanced process node possibly going down to 0.18-micron, the company detailed. Besides this upcoming fab, LSC also houses another 6-inch fab in Taiwan with a monthly capacity of 26,000 wafers.
Despite projecting that the semiconductor industry will achieve only a 6% production value growth in 2007, LSC stressed that it is still having a good performance with capacity for discrete components, high-voltage analog ICs and PWM ICs, now running at full. Shortage of the aforementioned components was a 20% in the third quarter and will maintain in the 10% range in the fourth quarter.
Article translated by Esther Lam and edited by Eric Mah
