IC PACKAGING AND TESTING - PRESSURE BUILDING TO

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 TAIPEI 002743 SIPDIS DEPT FOR EAP/TC DEPT PLEASE PASS AIT/W E.O. 12958: DECL: 06/23/2015 TAGS: ECON EINV ETTC CH TW SUBJECT: IC PACKAGING AND TESTING - PRESSURE BUILDING TO MOVE TO PRC REF: A. TAIPEI 343 ¶B. TAIPEI 2521 Classified By: AIT Director Douglas H. Paal, Reason 1.4 d Summary -------------- ¶1. (C) Integrated circuit (IC) packaging and testing is a key component in Taiwan's semiconductor economy with approximately USD 5 billion in revenue in 2004. Despite industry pressure, the Taiwan government still prohibits packaging and testing firms from investing in the PRC because it fears such investment will fuel a larger migration of Taiwan's semiconductor industry. Several firms have been accused of investing illegally in the Mainland, including the United Test and Assembly Center Limited (UTAC) case currently under investigation and Taiwan's largest packaging and testing firm Advanced Semiconductor Engineering Co. (ASE). Based on perceived and real economic factors, many firms have developed detailed plans for investing in the PRC once the Taiwan government makes it legal. If the Taiwan government does not permit packaging and testing firms to begin such investment soon, Taiwan firms, which currently dominate the global market, could face fierce competition from new PRC rivals. End summary. Essential Link in the Fabless/Foundry Model -------------- ¶2. (U) Packaging and testing is a key link in the semiconductors supply chain. IC packaging and testing firms take completed semiconductor wafers and turn them into usable integrated circuits. These firms have played an essential (but sometimes unacknowledged) role in the successful development of the fabless/foundry model that has allowed contract semiconductor manufacturers like Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC) and United Microelectronics Corporation (UMC) to flourish. Under this model, an independent integrated circuit design house that does not have manufacturing facilities of its own (and is thus "fabless") will hire a semiconductor foundry like TSMC or UMC to produce its chips. The design house then must hire a separate packaging and testing firm to cut out the individual chips from the wafer produced by the foundry and turn it into a completed integrated circuit that are components of a wide range of electronic consumer goods. The packaging and testing firms perform up to four separate processes - bumping or wire bonding, testing, cutting, and packaging. ¶3. (U) The industry is a major piece in Taiwan's prosperous semiconductor economy. In 2004, Taiwan's packaging and testing firms had revenue of NT$ 159.5 billion (about USD 5 billion),which accounted for almost 15 percent of Taiwan's semiconductor industry revenue. With TSMC and UMC, Taiwan has the world's top two semiconductor foundries. Their success has helped enable Taiwan to dominate the packaging and testing industry as well with five of the top ten firms globally by revenue. These include number one Advanced Semiconductor Engineering Co. (ASE) and number three Siliconware Precision Industries Limited (SPIL). Taiwan's Restrictions - Trying to Keep the Cluster -------------- -------------- ¶4. (C) Taiwan currently prohibits investment in the Mainland by Semiconductor packaging and testing firms. However, semiconductor manufacturing was liberalized in 2002, enabling TSMC to establish a fab near Shanghai, using less advanced 0.25-micron technology. Taiwan firms Powerchip and ProMos have also applied to the Investment Commission to build manufacturing facilities in the Mainland. Many firms are pressuring the Taiwan government to permit investment in more advanced 0.18-micron technology. However, Taiwan continues to delay liberalization of packaging and testing investment. As reported ref B, Mainland Affairs Council officials for the third time this year told AIT/T that the investment in packaging and testing would be approved within the next two to three months. ¶5. (C) Packaging and testing has generally been seen as a technologically less sophisticated process than the wafer fabrication performed by foundries like TSMC and UMC. In fact, until 1997, packaging and testing firms did not qualify for space in Taiwan's science parks. According to ASE Chief Financial Officer Freddie Liu, the reason that packaging and testing investment in the Mainland has not yet been approved is because the Taiwan government fears a kind of domino effect that would encourage the transfer of the entire Taiwan semiconductor cluster to the Mainland. Under the Table or Just Around It -------------- ¶6. (SBU) Nevertheless, some Taiwan packaging and testing firms have been accused of illegally investing in the Mainland. The most widely publicized case is United Test and Assembly Center Limited (UTAC),which has operated a packaging and testing facility in Shanghai since 2003 and recently announced a joint venture with China's Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corporation (SMIC) to establish another facility in Chengdu. Taiwan's Ministry of Economic Affairs Investment Commission has begun an investigation of UTAC's PRC investment. UTAC claims that this investment is legal because it is not a Taiwan company but rather headquartered in Singapore. ¶7. (C) UTAC was founded in 1995 in Taiwan. It established operations in Singapore in 1997 and subsequently moved its headquarters there and reorganized the firm with registration under Singaporean law. UTAC currently has more employees at its Singapore facility than in Taiwan - about 1,500 in Singapore according to its Vice President Winston Lau, compared to 773 in Taiwan. It also has more capacity in Singapore. The MOEA Investment Commission investigation may hinge on whether Taiwan individuals have violated the law in holding UTAC stock. ¶8. (C) ASE is also rumored to have invested illegally in the PRC. ASE's Liu told AIT/T that these allegations are false. However, he did confirm that the company has secured real estate in Songjiang, Kunshan, and Shanghai with the aim of building plants there. A Herd Mentality or Survival Instincts? -------------- ¶9. (C) Many other Taiwan firms have also developed extensive plans for investment in the Mainland. FuPo Electronics Corporation Vice Chairman Vincent Wang showed AIT/T its study of market conditions in the PRC and potential areas for expansion there. Megic Corporation Chairman M.S. Lin told AIT/T that his firm has plans to invest in the PRC. Lin commented that some of the enthusiasm among packaging and testing firms to invest in the Mainland could be based more on perceptions of industry trends rather than economic reality. Both Megic and FuPo specialize in packaging chips for TFT-LCD panels. Taiwan's TFT-LCD manufacturing has not yet moved to the PRC to the degree of many other information technology hardware manufacturers. The most advanced and capital-intensive TFT-LCD manufacturing processes are maintained in Taiwan, suggesting less need for packaging and testing firms to move there. ¶10. (C) Nevertheless, Megic's Lin pointed out that TSMC is encouraging design houses to place orders for its fab in Shanghai, providing more impetus for packaging and testing firms to move there. As one component of the industry establishes a presence in the Mainland others must follow to remain competitive. Otherwise, PRC packaging and testing firms will grow to meet the demand. ¶11. (C) When ASE's Liu outlined his firm's plans for investment in the PRC, he underscored the need for cross- Strait expansion in order for ASE to continue to grow. He commented that Taiwan did not have adequate personnel or land for ASE's planned growth. Liu pointed out that ASE currently employs 30,000 employees in Taiwan and has difficulty finding enough talented candidates for local expansion. ASE's plans call for expanding to employ 200,000 in the Mainland by 2016. Liu emphasized that there was no way to expand like that in Taiwan. He argued that if Taiwan wants to preserve the IC packaging and testing industry in Taiwan it should maintain tax benefits for high-tech industries and open immigration policy to allow firms like ASE to hire engineers from the PRC. Comment - Time is Running Out -------------- ¶12. (C) Time is running out for Taiwan's packaging and testing firms to maintain their strong competitive advantage over PRC firms. Many observers believe that if the Taiwan government does not approve packaging and testing investment in the PRC by the end of the year it will be too late. According to ASE's Liu, if Taiwan had liberalized Mainland investment in the PC industry 20 years ago, then Acer would be dominant in the PRC and there would be no Lenovo. If semiconductor manufacturing had been liberalized 10 years ago there would be no SMIC, only TSMC and UMC. Now Taiwan is at a similar crossroads for packaging and testing. If Mainland investment is approved this year, Taiwan's firms like ASE and SPIL, which already dominate the industry globally, will maintain that dominance in the PRC's rapidly emerging semiconductor cluster. If not, new PRC competitors will emerge and grow, eventually threatening Taiwan firms at home as well as in the PRC market. End comment. PAAL