TSMC is
reinforcing its aspirations in the automotive IC market by agreeing
a process development agreement with Infineon for embedded flash used
in automotive applications.
"TSMC is committed to providing the manufacturing quality
required by our automotive customers," said C.C. Wei, senior vice
president for business development at TSMC.
Infineon and TSMC will jointly develop 65nm process technologies
for eFlash microcontrollers (MCUs) that fulfil the stringent
quality requirements of the automotive industry, as well as the
demanding security requirements of the chip card and security
markets.
The partnership extension with TSMC is in line with Infineon's
strategy to outsource manufacturing and to engage in technology
co-development for 65nm and smaller geometry processes.
The 65nm eFlash technology for automotive applications supports
the high degree of functional integration required that drive the
performance and features called for in upcoming safety and emission
standards.
The 65nm eFlash technology for chip card and security
applications will support Infineon's focus on security that offers
the appropriate level of security with the best cost-performance
ratio, for applications in the smart card form factor and
beyond.
Process and product qualification for security MCUs is scheduled
for the second half of 2012. Automotive MCU qualification and
production start is scheduled for the first half of 2013.
Infineon's 32-bit TriCore family MCUs will be the first automotive
products produced on the 65nm eFlash process.
"We are confident that TSMC with its strong manufacturing
excellence background will be able to fulfil the stringent
automotive market requirements with their particular focus on
quality," said Jochen Hanebeck, President of the Automotive
Division at Infineon Technologies
"Indicating our firm and ongoing commitment to highest security
standards, it is understood that TSMC will be audited under the
most stringent international security specifications as being
provided by Infineon," said Dr. Helmut Gassel, president of
Infineon's Chip Card & Security Division.
Infineon and TSMC have a decade-long partnership covering
several Infineon's applications, such as industrial and wireline.
Based on a manufacturing agreement to use TSMC 65nm low-power
technology for Infineon's products employed in mobile devices,
which started about two years ago, the move to automotive and chip
card applications signals a firm and ongoing commitment on the part
of both companies to a strong development alliance and a stable and
long-term production partnership.
Infineon had a 9.5% share of the worldwide automotive
electronics market in 2008, worth about US$18.3bn and is the
largest chip card semiconductor vendor, with 25.5% of the worldwide
market valued at US$2.4bn in 2008.