最近有消息傳出，俄勒岡州經濟發(fā)展局和紐約官員相繼競爭邀請芯片制造商來本地區(qū)投資建廠，項目代號為 Azalea（“杜鵑計劃”）。而蘋果將投資 100 億美元，在俄勒岡州建立大型芯片制造工廠。分析師認為蘋果之所以進行巨額投資建立新工廠是因為他們想取代三星。 另有消息稱，俄勒岡州經濟發(fā)展局已與神秘制造商簽訂了保密協(xié)議。緊接著紐約官員同時就“杜鵑計劃”透露了些許消息，半導體工廠占地320萬平方英尺，雇傭至少1000名員工。這個傳聞中神秘的“杜鵑”芯片工廠不是別人，正式臺灣的半導體制造商臺積電公司（TSMC），新工廠或許建在紐約，也有可能是俄勒岡州。 消息稱，TSMC與蘋果投資的其實是同一座工廠，目的是將三星擠出局，這個工廠將由TSMC和蘋果一起運作。而蘋果明年推出的A7X CPU就將在這個工廠生產。 TSMC能吃下多少蘋果單？ 但是 TSMC 的 CEO 則否認了這樣的說法，稱美國工廠也在他們考慮范圍之內，但是與蘋果無關。他指出，新的芯片制造工廠將能滿足 Qualcomm 和 Nvidia 等客戶的更多要求。 《臺灣電子時報》認為蘋果訂單大量增加是對 TSMC 盈利能力的考驗，市場觀察者也很關心 TSMC 將如何分配他們的產能，還有就是如果 2013 年他們接受蘋果訂單，那么他們的收入和盈利將為幾何。 今年 10 月份，TSMC 透露每年蘋果需要 2 億枚 CPU，而他們每月的 28 納米 CPU 產量為 68,000。TSMC CEO 預計明年所有生產線都將滿負荷運轉，明年 1/3 的收入將來自 28 納米芯片。 另一方面，三星奧斯丁工廠投資 40 億美元以提高產量，該工廠主要為 iPhone、iPad 以及 iPod 的生產處理器。 去三星化的必然結果 由于三星電子和蘋果公司爭議一直持續(xù)不斷，促使蘋果考慮重新選擇合作伙伴。在過去兩年里，關于蘋果和臺積電合作的傳聞不絕于耳。三星目前生產定制的A-系列處理器，蘋果將這批處理器用在德州奧斯汀工廠的iOS系統(tǒng)設備上，其中包括iPhone 5內的32納米A6芯片處理器和第四代iPad的A6X芯片。預計蘋果使用臺積電的20納米處理器要到2013年底才能實現(xiàn)。 今年年初，在競標生產芯片時，臺積電曾因為產能問題拒絕蘋果和高通。這表示，如果臺積電完成“杜鵑計劃”，勢必會影響蘋果處理器代工廠的選擇，蘋果設備芯片或許將來在美國本土就可實現(xiàn)生產。 本文授權編譯自EE Times，版權所有，謝絕轉載 編譯：Luffy Liu 參考英文原文：Report: TSMC confirms U.S. wafer fab site hunt,by Peter Clarke

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{pagination} Report: TSMC confirms U.S. wafer fab site hunt Peter Clarke LONDON – Amid plans to increase capital spending to a record $9 billion in 2013, Taiwanese foundry TSMC is seeking a location for a wafer fab, with the U.S. as a possibility, according to a local news report. Commenting on speculation that TSMC (Hsinchu, Taiwan) might build a fab in New York, Morris Chang, chairman and CEO of TSMC, said that his company is looking for a location for a wafer fab. "The U.S. is one of the places under consideration. But this has nothing to do with Apple," the Taipei Times quoted Chang as saying. Chang was speaking at the Supply Chain Management Forum in Hsinchu, Taiwan. It has been speculated that TSMC might be the entity behind Project Azalea that is considering build a factory in New York state, or behind a similarly named project in Oregon. It has also been speculated that TSMC might be considering a U.S. site under pressure from Apple, which has become an important buyers of foundry services for the processors it uses in its smart phones and tablet computers. TSMC has budgeted $8.3 billion for capital spending in 2012, which it will increase to $9 billion in 2013. At the same time the budget for R&D is $1.37 billion in 2012 and is due to expand by 17 percent to $1.6 billion in 2013, the report quoted Chang as saying. The capital spending will help TSMC expand manufacturing capacity particularly of leading-edge 28-nm process technology which has been in short supply during 2012. TSMC also expects to bring up a 20-nm bulk planar CMOS process in 2013. Chang said he expects the global chip market to grow 3 percent next year after a fall of 2 percent in 2012, although he expects TSMC to grow by 15 to 20 percent in 2013, the report added.