TSMC goes 12-inch

Taiwanese manufacturer TSMC has confirmed it is to build a 12in wafer fabrication plant at the Hsinchu Science Park on the island. The fab will cost $240 million to build and will be partly financed by Vanguard. The overall cost, once the equipment is installed, is more likely to be around $2 billion. The 12-inch wafer plant will be the first in Taiwan. Siemens opened its own 12-inch fab earlier this year, while Intel said it was investigating a similar project at the last Developer Forum it held. ® See also UMC to build 12-inch wafer fab Intel outlines 12-inch futures