It’s no secret that China wants advanced chip manufacturing technology and will do whatever it takes to get it. However, after several failed attempts by China’s state sponsored technology investment group, Tsinghua Unigroup, to acquire US chip manufacturing companies such as Western Digital and Micron, it appears that they have given up on acquiring the manufacturing capability altogether and have decided invest into building their own manufacturing capability instead.
According to a recent statement from Tsinghua Unigroup, the investment group recently revealed plans to invest $30 billion into the construction and development of a DRAM and 3D NAND fab in Nanjing, China. After an initial $10 billion development phase, the fab is expected to produce at a monthly capacity of 100,000 wafers.
This announcement follows the recently opened 3D NAND fab in Wuhan, China which received a $24 billion investment from Tsinghua Unigroup. The Wuhan fab which was a part of the XMC acquisition expects to begin shipping its first wafers in 2018 with a monthly capacity of 300,000 wafers. Tsinghua Unigroup is also expected to begin investing in a logic fab in Chengdu, China. Total fab investment for the three fabs in Nanjing, Wuhan, and Chengdu is expected to top $70 billion.
Source: DigiTimes
