TSMC restarts new 8” FAB plan

Wafer foundry leader TSMC (2330-TW) held a supply chain forum today on December 6th. President C.C. Wei told that in order to meet customers’ demands, a new 8” FAB will be built in Southern Taiwan Science Park (STSP) in Tainan, Taiwan. It is believed by the market that TSMC intended to fulfill the demand of 8” process market. This is the first time TSMC has announced new 8” FAB plan since 2003.

Wei said in the forum that the company plans to build a new 8” FAB in STSP and focus on special process. It is believed by the market that it represents high demands in 8” process market and TSMC builds new 8” FAB in order to expand its revenue/earnings growth momentum.

Wei didn’t give detail information about the new 8” FAB plan, including the amount of investment, construction plans, etc.

On the other hands, Wei pointed out that in the next few years, TSMC's annual revenue is expected to maintain a growth rate of 5-10%, catalyzed by four major areas. In addition, AI ​​application may expand significantly, from the simple cloud and server side in the past to edge computing and terminal devices. AI applications and its market size are expected to grow significantly in the next few years, boosting TSMC's revenue.

Regarding new processes, Wei stressed that 5nm process may enter the risk trial run in 2Q19 and may mass-produce in 2H20. Moreover, 3nm process has entered the EIA stage for now.