TSMC foresees growing competition from Chinese players at 28nm node

Speaking at a recent company event, TSMC chairman Morris Chang said he sees increased competition from Chinese foundries as a future threat. Chang explained Chinese players are rapidly expanding their production capacity for 28nm and more mature process nodes, in part due to government incentives provided by the Chinese government. TSMC rolled out its 28nm technology six years ago.

Every year, TSMC uses almost one-tenth of its R&D expenses to enhance its mature process differentiation, Chang noted. TSMC has added embedded flash memory (eFlash), sensor and other features into its logic processes to enhance the company's specialty technology capability.

TSMC's 28nm technology, for example, is already offered in six process variants to meet customers' various needs. TSMC's 28nm technology has been available for six years, Chang said.