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Taiwan Semiconductor Shrinks Chips

TSMC’s production process speeds its products to market.

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Morris Chang, PhD, chairman and CEO of Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. (TSM), says, “The semiconductor industry has historically innovated its way out of every economic downturn. We believe that it will be able to do so again.” As it continues to innovate with lighter and smaller products that increase the speed of laptops, the graphics power of desktops and the hands-free capabilities of cell-phone operation, the chipmaker for consumer electronics products (2008 revenues of $10 billion) reports that it has ramped up its 40-nanometer chip-manufacturing processes and plans to deliver its 28-nanometer process in early 2010.

“These chips pack more functionality into a smaller space and offer better power efficiency that increases battery life,” says Chang. TSMC says 40-nanometer chips are 30 percent faster than those manufactured with a 65-nanometer process, and they require 45 percent less power.

Chang says a key to the company’s success is a set of collaborative interfaces it has developed to speed the chips through the supply chain and to market: “This approach can save our customers significant amounts of money in developing first-time working silicon and in speeding time-to-market, time-to-volume — and, therefore, time-to-revenue — for all our customers.”