Following a nine-month delay, Taiwan's DRAM (Dynamic Random Access Memory) chipmaker Nanya Technology recently announced that it will break ground on a new 12" fab on June 23, the Economic Daily News on May 31. The company has claimed to receive government grants of about NT$300 billion (US$10.7 billion) for this new fab, which is dedicated to fabricate 10nm chips for use in 5G, AI (Artificial Intelligence), and consumer electronics applications. Located in New Taipei City, the new fab is projected to begin commercialization in 2025. Upon completion, the fab is anticipated to initially churn out 15,000 10nm wafers and gradually to 45,000 wafers per month. The company, however, mostly fabricates DRAM chips using 20nm process nodes.
During the forecasted period 2021-2024, Taiwan’s leading research institute MIC (Market Intelligence & Consulting Institute) estimates Taiwan’s foundry industry will witness a CAGR (Compound Annual Growth Rate) of 10%, followed by IC design’s 7.9%, memory’s 7.5%, and IC packaging and testing’s 7.2%. Overall, the Taiwanese semiconductor industry will still perform better than the global average during 2021-2022. Global semiconductor market is estimated to grow 25.1% and 10.1% year-on-year in 2021 and 2022, reaching US$550.9 billion and US$606.5 billion, respectively, according to MIC.