ProAsia Semiconductor Corp (PASC, 積亞半導體) plans to invest NT$3 billion (US$107.63 million) to make chips using third-generation semiconductor materials at Hsinchu Science Park (新竹科學園區), with an eye on the fast-growing electric vehicle, 5G and green energy markets, the Ministry of Science and Technology said yesterday.
ProAsia Semiconductor is a newly created subsidiary of Taiwan-Asia Semiconductor Corp (台亞半導體), a 30-year-old supplier of LED chips in Taiwan. Taiwan-Asia Semiconductor was formerly known as Optotech Corp (光磊科技) which made the renaming on Dec. 27 last year.
Taiwan-Asia Semiconductor’s board of directors in December approved a plan to indirectly invest NT$3.1 billion in ProAsia Semiconductor’s founding to make inroads into the new semiconductor material market.
ProAsia Semiconductor develops and makes MOSFET — metal–oxide–semiconductor field-effect transistors — and silicon carbide (SiC) Schottky diode modules, which are mainly used in electric vehicles, charging piles, smart grids and other auto parts, the ministry said in a statement.
“The company’s products have a technological advantage and good market potential, matching the world semiconductor industry’s pace in developing [third-generation semiconductors],” the ministry said. “The company is leveraging Taiwan-Asia Semiconductor’s LED chipmaking technology and Nichia’s compound semiconductor technology to make MOSFET and SiC.”
Nichia is to become a shareholder of ProAsia Semiconductor by subscribing to the Taiwanese firm's new shares, which would expand the latter's capital to NT$5 billion, the Chinese-language Commercial Times reported.
ProAsia Semiconductor also reportedly plans to build a 6-inch fab to produce gallium nitride (GaN) on SiC chips.
With the rapid uptake of electric vehicles, 5G-related applications and virtual-reality devices, third-generation semiconductor materials — made of SiC and GaN — have recently drawn the attention of industry experts and the media.
Third-generation semiconductor materials possess better physical and chemical characteristics, while offering faster switching speed, higher efficiency and fast heat dissipation compared with first-generation materials (silicon) and second-generation gallium arsenide, or GaAs.
The investment from ProAsia Semiconductor was the largest among the 12 investment projects totaling NT$8.51 billion that received the green light from the ministry.
Msscorps Co (汎銓科技), which specializes in material analysis in the semiconductor sector, is to invest NT$466 million in Hsinchu, making it the second-biggest investment project approved by the ministry yesterday.
Iscom Online International Information Inc (采威國際), a software developer focusing on cloud-based platform, 5G technology and artificial intelligence technology, came next. The company plans to invest NT$400 million to set up a research and development center in the Southern Taiwan Science Park (南部科學園區).
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New apartments in Taiwan’s major cities are getting smaller, while old apartments are increasingly occupied by older people, many of whom live alone, government data showed. The phenomenon has to do with sharpening unaffordable property prices and an aging population, property brokers said. Apartments with one bedroom that are two years old or older have gained a noticeable presence in the nation’s six special municipalities as well as Hsinchu county and city in the past five years, Evertrust Rehouse Co (永慶房產集團) found, citing data from the government’s real-price transaction platform. In Taipei, apartments with one bedroom accounted for 19 percent of deals last