Chang Takes Back CEO Job at TSMC
TSMC's board of directors named Morris Chang as CEO today, handing back the CEO title to the company's founding chairman. Rick Tsai was named president of a new business development organization charged with spearheading the company's efforts in solar cells and other emerging areas. The change in command comes as TSMC faces renewed challenges in the leading-edge foundry business it dominates.
David Lammers, News Editor -- Semiconductor International, 6/12/2009
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| Morris Chang, CEO, TSMC |
Morris Chang reassumed control of Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. Ltd. (TSMC, Hsinchu, Taiwan) today, after the foundry's board of directors unanimously re-elected Chang as chairman and named him as the CEO. Rick Tsai, CEO since 2005, will serve as president of a new business development organization charged with spearheading the company's efforts in solar cells and other emerging areas.
"Looking to the future, TSMC needs to develop long-term growth opportunities, and this needs the best qualified manager to take charge," Chang said. "Recognizing this, I have asked Dr. Tsai to devote all his energy to this task, and he has accepted the assignment."
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Rick Tsai, TSMC |
Tsai, who has worked at TSMC since 1989, said, "I am pleased and honored to be given this great opportunity to contribute to TSMC's long-term growth. I accept the challenge with all my efforts."
Chang, soon to be 78, founded TSMC 22 years ago after working for 25 years at Texas Instruments, rising to the top job at TI's semiconductor operations. Though Tsai had assumed the CEO role in 2005, Chang told reporters at the 2007 International Electron Devices Meeting (IEDM) in Washington, D.C. that under Taiwan law, the chairman was the legal top officer of an R.O.C. corporation, adding that the CEO title held no legal standing there. Though reporters glossed over that admission, in hindsight it was a sign that Chang was uncomfortable with any idea that he was not in control.
TSMC has ~$10B in annual revenues and controls roughly half of the overall foundry business. In the leading-edge area, where much of the profits are, TSMC towers over its rivals. However, the company faces renewed challenges, particularly from a coalition of companies participating in the IBM-led process development alliance in Fishkill, N.Y. That group includes GlobalFoundries, the AMD spinout that is building a new fab in upstate New York. Backed by Advanced Technology Investment Co., the Abu Dhabi government investment arm, GlobalFoundries is targeting 45 and 32 nm designs, where high-k/metal gate technology is key. Moreover, the Abu Dhabi investment arm is negotiating with Singapore's Chartered Semiconductor Manufacturing Ltd. and the Singapore government investment firm, Tamasek Holdings, which owns a majority stake in Chartered.
If Abu Dhabi takes control of Chartered and combines it with GlobalFoundries, the enlarged Chartered/GlobalFoundries would have 300 mm fabs in Singapore; Dresden, Germany; and, starting in 2012, Malta, N.Y. That could provide some comfort to IC vendors who worry about the possibility of a major earthquake impacting TSMC's 300 mm fabs in Taiwan.
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