TSMC has started on Phase 3 of its Fab 15 GigaFab in Taichung which is being built for 20nm processing.
“We hope that our leadership will make Taiwan a pivotal player in global semiconductor industry, and that TSMC continues to be a world-class company that everyone in Taiwan can take pride in,” said TSMC CEO Morris Chang.
Phase 1 of Fab 15 expects to begin volume production in ‘early 2012’; Phase 2 is expected to begin volume production sometime next year. Phases 1 and 2 are built to process 28nm geometries and are expected to generate a combined $3bn worth of revenues.
TSMC’s managed capacity in 2010 totaled 11.33m (8-inch equivalent) wafers, including capacity from two 12-inch GigaFabs, four eight-inch fabs, one six-inch fab, as well as TSMC’s wholly owned subsidiaries, WaferTech and TSMC China, and its joint venture fab, SSMC.