Taiwan Semiconductor Industry Association (TSIA) recently hosted a banquet to bid farewell to Morris Chang following his retirement. The guests there - including leaders in the tech industries and government officials - were all eager to hear the "commander in chief" (that's the nickname of the former...

The most important evolution in the LCD driver IC packaging sector in 2018 is that the COF (chip on film) package process has become a crucial alternative to COG (chip on glass) for packing driver ICs on smaller-size panels for smartphones and other mobile devices, according to FJ Wu, chairman of IC...

Image sensor packaging specialist Xintec has decided to suspend its 12-inch wafer-level packaging production line for one year due to disappointing CMOS image sensor (CIS) demand for mass-market applications, according to the company.

Shunsin Technology, a subsidiary of Foxconn Electronics (Hon Hai Precision Industry) specializing in assembly and test of system-in-package (SiP) modules, has obtained new orders for 3D sensing modules for use in high-end fiber-optic devices and consumer electronics applications from two US chip vendors,...

Samsung Electronics has started using extreme ultraviolet (EUV) lithography to develop 1ynm DRAM memory, according to a report by News1 Korea.

While Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC) and Samsung are entering the 7nm process era, the latest cobalt-based process solutions rolled out by Applied Materials following over 10 years of development will be the best helper for 7nm foundry node, as they can help increase, by 5-15%, the...

Despite foundry quotes at 8-inch fabs in Taiwan and China to see 20-30% hikes in the third quarter of 2018, IC design houses across the Taiwan Straits are gearing up to vie for foundry capacities to support their shipments and maintain revenue growth, according to industry sources.

Eight-inch foundry Vanguard International Semiconductor (VIS), which has seen its fabs run at full utilization, will continue to boost production efficiency, according to company chairman Leuh Fang. VIS still has no plans to build another fab or new production lines at the existing fabs, said Fang.

Speculation circulated recently that Macronix International had been approached by Foxconn Electronics (Hon Hai Precision Industry) about a potential tie-up in the semiconductor business, has been refuted by Macronix chairman Miin Wu.

Rising raw materials costs have prompted Mosel Vitelic and other 6-inch foundries to raise their quotes, according to Rebecca Tang, chairperson for the Taiwan-based foundry specializing in power semiconductors and analog chips.

Photomask supplier Taiwan Mask is expected to return profitable in 2018, following three years of losses, according to market watchers.

When Texas Instruments' new engineer Jack Kilby invented the world's first IC in 1958, no one could imagine that 60 years later, ICs have deeply rooted in Taiwan, now the world's most crucial IC design and production base. But if without the government's strong backing from the very beginning, Taiwan's...

Phoenix Silicon International (PSI), which specializes in wafer reclaim services, expects steady growth in its wafer thinning business in 2018. The product segment has expanded to account for about 35% of PSI's total revenues.

Pure-play foundry United Microelectronics (UMC) expects its fab operation in Xiamen, China to remain unprofitable in 2018 due to insufficient economies of scale.

Globalfoundries has disclosed plans to cut 5% of its global workforce, or about 900 employees, with the layoff to take place mainly in Europe and the US.

Lite-On Semiconductor, a maker of discrete and analog IC components, has reported consolidated revenues for May 2018 increased 15% on year and 2% sequentially to NT$1.12 billion (US$37.5 million).

Taiwan-based Topco, which mainly distributes silicone materials for Japan's Shin-Etsu Chemical, expects to enjoy double-digit revenue growth in 2018 thanks to robust silicone demand.

The Shuangliu District of Chengdu, the capital city of Sichuan Province, is actively developing tech innovations and new economy, seeking to nurture 1-2 startup unicorns and over 50 "gazelle" enterprises - young and fast growth firms - within five years, according to the district's Science, Technology...

As one of the main districts under the administration of Chengdu, the capital city of Sichuan Province, and with a robust industry carrier, the Shuangliu District is aggressively soliciting investments from global leading and quality enterprises to form industrial clusters and build city-industry integrated,...

IC backend service provider Kingpak Technology has enjoyed a ramp-up of orders for automotive CMOS image sensors (CIS), and will cut into the supply chain of China's first-tier electric vehicle vendor, according to industry sources.

ASE Industrial Holding has disclosed its first monthly revenue figure after its establishment as the parent company of Advanced Semiconductor Engineering (ASE) and Siliconware Precision Industries (SPIL). Market watchers expect the entity to post revenues of nearly NT$410 billion (US$13.8 billion)...

Pure-play foundry United Microelectronics (UMC) has reported May consolidated revenues increased 5.3% sequentially to NT$13.08 billion (US$438.3 million), while revenues at specialty IC foundry specialist Vanguard International Semiconductor (VIS) climbed to a record high of NT$2.43 billion.

As a research organization with comprehensive deployments in the microelectronics field in China, the Institute of Microelectronics under the Chinese Academy of Sciences (IMECAS) has set up a southwest research sub-institute in the Shuangliu District of Chengdu, where a mega IC industry complex is...

Taiwan's export value totaled US$29.12 billion in May, the third highest-ever monthly level with growth of 8.9% sequentially and 14.2% on year, while the corresponding import value reached US$24.71 billion, up 9.5% sequentially and 12.0% on year, according to the Ministry of Finance (MOF).

Worldwide sales of semiconductors reached US$37.6 billion for the month of April 2018, an increase of 20.2% from the April 2017 total of US$31.3 billion and 1.4% more than last month's total of US$37.1 billion, according to SIA.