News

Foxconn Building New Chip Fab In China

Foxconn Finally Moves Into Silicon Fab Bussiness

Even as the silicon market has consolidated over the past couple of years, new entrants are still lining up. The latest to join the competitive industry appears to be Foxconn. Apple’s iPhone are the companies most well-known product. The company also does work for many other OEMs as well. According to new reports, the firm is planning to build a new silicon fab in southern China. This will be the company’s first silicon fab plant, after months of speculation.

Foxconn is building their new fab in the Chinese city of Zhuhai. This is conveniently located close to Macau and in the area of Hong Kong and Shenzhen, a major tech manufacturing hub. The new fab is part of a partnership between the Zhuhai government and Foxconn. The initial cost of the fab will be $9 billion. The local government will be covering most of this cost through tax breaks and subsidies. Sharp, a Japanese Foxconn subsidiary, will likely be involved due to their fab experience. The new fab will produce 12inch (300mm) wafers.

Likely to Tap Sharp For Experience

With the help of Sharp, Foxconn should have little trouble setting up a fab. However, the real challenge is keeping up with the latest nodes. As a result of financial troubles, Sharp stopped developing new nodes in 2010. This means the firm will have a lot of ground to cover in order to catch up. Furthermore, fabs are quite expensive as the recent Intel and TSMC expansions show. However, the lower costs in China may help offset this to a certain degree.

For now, don’t expect any Foxconn fabbed chips anytime soon. It will likely take several years before the fab is up and running. The US-China trade war is likely a major driving force behind this project. China likely wants to wean itself off total-reliance on foreign fabs. Along with other firms, this is slowing growing the domestic Chinese fab market. It will be interesting to see if Foxconn can remain competitive due to the high sustained capital expenditures.

Samuel Wan

Samuel joined eTeknix in 2015 after becoming engrossed in technology and PC hardware. With his passion for gaming and hardware, tech writing was the logical step to share the latest news with the world. When he’s not busy dreaming about the latest hardware, he enjoys gaming, music, camping and reading.

Disqus Comments Loading...

Recent Posts

Still Wakes the Deep 

LIVE THE HORROR: An immersive disaster story aboard a stunningly realised North Sea oil rig,…

4 hours ago

PHILIPS 275V8LA – 27 Inch QHD Monitor

The Philips VA LED display uses an advanced multi-domain vertical alignment technology that gives you…

4 hours ago

EPOMAKER Ajazz AK820 Pro 75% Gasket-mounted Mechanical Keyboard 

【TFT Screen: The Interactive Interface】This 75% mechanical keyboard comes equipped with a TFT Screen, serving…

4 hours ago

Funko Fusion

FANDOM FUSION Play as your favorite characters and wield their unique weapons and skills. Team…

4 hours ago

Shin Megami Tensei V: Vengeance Standard Edition

The Definitive Version of Shin Megami Tensei V - Fully evolved with stunning visuals for…

4 hours ago

Hand Warmers Rechargeable 2 Pack

【Unique Split Design】5200mAh hand warmers rechargeable together with double-sided heating function, split snap swivel design,…

4 hours ago