SMIC founder in timely comeback as his new China fab ramps up amid surging demand for chips
- SiEn (Qingdao) Integrated Circuits Co has kicked off production of 8-inch silicon wafers in Qingdao and is testing a new 12-inch production line as well
- The State-owned Assets Supervision & Administration Commission of Qingdao is SiEn’s largest shareholder with a 67 per cent stake
Richard Chang, a semiconductor industry veteran and founder of China’s biggest chip maker Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corporation (SMIC), is behind a new chip making plant in the country, which began operations this week, according to two industry sources.
The foundry, SiEn (Qingdao) Integrated Circuits Co, has kicked off production of 8-inch silicon wafers in the Chinese city of Qingdao and is currently testing a new 12-inch production line, the sources said, in a move that will add to the country’s capacity at the mature technology nodes.
An executive at GigaDevice Semiconductor (GD), a Chinese flash memory designer, told the Post that his company started cooperating with the foundry several months ago. The executive, who declined to be named as he is not authorised to speak publicly about production arrangements, said the more advanced 12-inch line was about to start operating as well.
Arisa Liu, a senior research fellow at the Taiwan Institute of Economic Research (TIER), said SiEn started operations at a good time as there is strong demand for new capacity. “But there are also some downsides due to US sanctions on China’s semiconductor industry that might limit its development,” she added.
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There’s a global semiconductor chip shortage and this is why it matters
The new venture is drawing a great deal of attention amid a global semiconductor shortage, given that its 73-year-old founder took a group of Taiwanese engineers across the Taiwan Strait 21 years ago to set up SMIC in the rice fields of Shanghai’s suburbs.
Chang stepped down as CEO of SMIC in November 2009, three days after the company settled a years-long lawsuit with Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company. TSMC had sued Chang’s company for alleged theft of intellectual property by hiring former TSMC employees.