Eight-inch IC foundry Vanguard International Semiconductor (VIS) has trimmed its financial guidance for the third quarter following a power blackout that hit one of its wafer fabs.
The power outage took place in the Jinhsin industrial area, Taoyuan (northern Taiwan), where VIS' Fab 3 is located, on September 13.
The incident will cause shipment delays and bring in additional costs, VIS indicated. The specialty IC foundry has therefore revised downward its revenue and margin guidance for the third quarter.
VIS expects revenues to be between NT$7.3 billion (US$237.1 million) and NT$7.7 billion in the third quarter compared with the NT$7.6-8 billion estimated previously. Gross margin and operating margin are now estimated at between 35% and 37%, and 24-26%, respectively, compared with previously-set 36-38% and 25-27%.
VIS expects its Fab 3 to restore full production in the fourth quarter.
VIS runs three 8-inch wafer fabs specializing in the manufacture of LCD driver ICs and power management (PWM) chips, as well as other analog and mixed-signal chips. The company has enjoyed robust demand since 2018, and plans to install new production equipment at its existing facilities for additional capacities.
In addition, DRAM chipmaker Nanya Technology experienced a sudden reduction in power at its Taoyuan-based facility. Production at the affected fab has already resumed, the company said.
The sudden power cut caused part of its process equipment to shut down temporarily, said Nanya. The company believes the incident will have a limited impact on its operations.
According to Taiwan Power (Taipower), the blackout only affected the Jinhsin industrial area and several nearby sites. A malfunction of equipment at one of its UHV customers led to a shutdown of the substation in the industrial area, Taipower said.
Article translated by Jessie Shen and edited by Rodney Chan
