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RR RUEHCN RUEHGH RUEHVC
DE RUEHIN #4029/01 3350938
ZNY CCCCC ZZH
R 010938Z DEC 06
FM AIT TAIPEI
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 3294
INFO RUEHOO/CHINA POSTS COLLECTIVE
RUEKJCS/SECDEF WASHINGTON DC
RHHMUNA/USPACOM HONOLULU HI
RUEAIIA/CIA WASHDC
RHEFDIA/DIA WASHINGTON DC
RUCPDOC/DEPT OF COMMERCE WASHDC
RUEATRS/DEPT OF TREASURY WASHDC

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 TAIPEI 004029 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE PASS USTR 
STATE FOR EAP/TC 
COMMERCE FOR 3132/USFCS/OIO/EAP/WZARIT 
TREASURY FOR OASIA/LMOGHTADER 
USTR FOR STRATFORD, ALTBACH 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 12/01/2016 
TAGS: ECON EINV ETRD EIND ETTC PREL CH TW
SUBJECT: TAIWAN HI-TECH - BUSINESS BOOMING DESPITE 
GOVERNMENT'S CROSS-STRAIT  BARRIERS 
 
REF: TAIPEI 3926 
 
Classified By: AIT Director Stephen M. Young, Reason 1.4 d 
 
¶1. (SBU) Summary: During a trip to Hsinchu, Taiwan's 
high-tech industry center, business leaders described to 
AIT Director good prospects for Taiwan's semiconductor 
and flat-panel display industries, many citing ambitious 
expansion plans.  However, most complained about the Chen 
administration's management of the economy, focusing 
almost exclusively on the failure to remove remaining 
cross-Strait economic restrictions.  End summary. 
 
¶2. (SBU) On November 29, 2006, AIT Director Young met 
with high-tech industry leaders at the Hsinchu Science 
Park, Taiwan's high-tech industry center.  The Director 
met with Applied Materials Taiwan (AMT) General Manager 
Jack Liu, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. (TSMC) 
Chairman Morris Chang, ProMOS Technologies Chairman M.L. 
Chen, AU Optronics Corp. (AUO) Chairman K.Y. Lee, and 
Industrial Technology Research Institute President 
Johnsee Lee.  The Director also hosted a lunch for 
leaders of four of Taiwan's largest integrated circuit 
(IC) design firms - Mediatek, Sunplus, Realtek, and Etron. 
 
Business is Good for Semiconductor Equipment,... 
--------------------------------------------- --- 
 
¶3. (C) Each of the business leaders that the Director met 
described generally favorable prospects for continued 
growth of his company and industry.  AMT's Liu pointed 
out that Taiwan had been Applied Materials' largest 
market in the world in FY06.  (Note: Applied Materials, 
based in Santa Clara, CA, is the global leader in 
semiconductor manufacturing equipment.  End note.) 
Taiwan accounted for 21.2 percent of the firm's sales in 
FY06, ahead of North America with 19.2 percent and Japan 
with 18.5 percent.  He explained that dynamic random 
access memory (DRAM) manufacturers accounted for a 
growing share of AMT's sales.  While Taiwan semiconductor 
firms grew 21.5 percent overall, DRAM manufacturers grew 
by 54.5 percent in the third quarter of 2006 compared to 
the same period a year ago.  Overall, Liu said, Taiwan has 12 
operational 12-inch wafer semiconductor manufacturing 
facilities (fabs).  AMT projects there will be 20 
operational 12-inch fabs by the end of 2008.  At up to 
US$3 billion per fab, AMT believes that Taiwan firms will 
invest US$17 billion over the next two years in 
constructing these fabs and counts on garnering 
substantial sales as a result. 
 
Semiconductor Manufacturing,... 
------------------------------- 
 
¶4. (C) At TSMC, Taiwan largest semiconductor firm and the 
world's largest semiconductor contract manufacturer (or 
semiconductor "foundry"), Chang's staff briefed the 
Director on the firm's impressive performance in 2006. 
They reported TSMC's sales were up 17 percent in the 
third quarter while profits had risen 32.9 percent.  TSMC 
holds a 50 percent global market share among semiconductor 
foundries.  Its closest rival, Taiwan's United 
Microelectronics Corporation (UMC) has only an 18 percent 
share.  TSMC will lead Taiwan's semiconductor industry in 
capital expenditure with projected investment of US$2.6 
billion in 2006.  It will lead all firms in the island on 
R&D with expenditures of US$450 million.  TSMC expects 
strong growth in 2007 as well.  The firm ranked number 8 
among the world's semiconductor firms by revenue in 2005 
and projects that it will reach the number 6 ranking next 
year. 
 
¶5. (C) ProMOS's Chen told the Director that business 
looks good for the DRAM manufacturer in the second half 
of 2006 and all of 2007.  He noted the firm's ambitious 
expansion plans.  ProMOS started production at its second 
12-inch wafer fab in 2005 in Taichung.  It has another 
12-inch wafer fab under construction there.  Chen said 
the company was also waiting for the Ministry of Economic 
 
TAIPEI 00004029  002 OF 003 
 
 
Affairs to approve its application to build a fab in the 
PRC.  ProMOS has identified Chongqing as the most likely 
site for the fab.  If approved, ProMOS will transfer 8- 
inch manufacturing equipment from Taiwan and upgrade to 
another 12-inch facility here. 
 
Semiconductor Design,... 
------------------------ 
 
¶6. (C) In a roundtable lunch with chairmen of four of 
Taiwan's top-ten IC design firms, business leaders 
described generally positive prospects for the industry 
in Taiwan.  (Note: IC design firms, or "fabless" 
semiconductor manufacturers, design and market integrated 
circuits but have no manufacturing facilities of their 
own.  Instead, they hire semiconductor foundries, like 
TSMC, to make the chips.  End note.)  Etron Chairman 
 
SIPDIS 
Nicky Lu pointed out that Taiwan has the world's second 
largest IC design industry.  Lu said Taiwan's IC firms 
accounted for 20 percent of global revenue for fabless 
semiconductor firms after North America's 75 percent. 
 
¶7. (C) The executives also affirmed that Taiwan fabless 
firms still maintained a strong lead over PRC competitors. 
Sunplus President Chen Yarn-chen said Taiwan firms had a 
three to five year technological lead over Mainland firms. 
Lu noted that total revenue for PRC IC design firms was 
just US$1.5 billion, while total revenue in Taiwan is 
over US$8 billion.  However, he also commented that PRC 
firms were growing quickly.  All of the firms commented 
that they do a lot of their business in China and expect 
demand to keep on growing.  (Note: According to the 
Taiwan Semiconductor Industry Association, nearly 58 
percent of revenue for Taiwan's IC design firms in 2006 
will come from sales to the PRC and Hong Kong, up from 29 
percent in 2001.  End note.) 
 
And Flat-Panel Displays 
----------------------- 
 
¶8. (C) AUO's Lee described some challenges facing thin- 
film-transistor liquid crystal display (TFT-LCD) 
manufacturers in Taiwan.  He explained that television 
sets accounted for an increasing share of revenue, now 
almost 50 percent.  Meanwhile the share for computer 
monitors continues to decline.  Because up to 40 percent 
of televisions are sold in the fourth quarter of every 
year, TFT-LCD manufacturing is increasingly cyclical, 
making capital expenditure and production planning more 
difficult. 
 
¶9. (C) However, Lee also highlighted AUO's growth.  With 
AUO's acquisition of Quanta Display Inc., he said AUO's 
production was roughly the same as Samsung and LG Philips. 
(Note: Previously, the two South Korean firms had 
consistently ranked number one and two worldwide in TFT- 
LCD production.  Some media reports have speculated that 
next year AUO will rank number one.  End note.)  Lee 
underscored expansion plans at Taichung's Central Taiwan 
Science Park.  AUO's facility there has grown to 7,000 
employees since construction began in mid-2003.  Lee said 
it would soon become AUO's largest facility.  He also 
mentioned plans to build more advanced generation 8 and 9 
TFT-LCD panel factories. 
 
Cross-Strait Restrictions Stifling Investment... 
--------------------------------------------- --- 
 
¶10. (C) The high-tech business leaders complained that 
Taiwan's cross-Strait economic restrictions continue to 
hinder their ability to expand and do business. 
TSMC's Chang explained that Taiwan's restrictions on 
 
SIPDIS 
semiconductor manufacturing investment in Mainland China 
were far behind global standards under the Wassenaar 
Arrangement.  Taiwan currently allows investment in the 
PRC in manufacturing facilities that produce chips with 
feature size no finer than 0.25 microns.  TSMC started 
volume production of 65-nanometer chips in Taiwan, 
technology that is three generations ahead of the 0.18- 
 
TAIPEI 00004029  003 OF 003 
 
 
micron technology that Taiwan officials are considering 
opening for PRC investment by the end of the year 
(reftel).  (Note: Semiconductor industry media have 
reported that Applied Materials recently agreed to sell 
SMIC, a PRC semiconductor foundry, 65-nanometer 
technology.  End note.) 
 
¶11. (C) ProMOS's Chen commented that his firm had been 
waiting since December of 2004 for Taiwan's MOEA to 
respond to its application to build a plant in the PRC. 
He explained that ProMOS would not produce DRAM in the 
PRC, but instead planned to make products like power 
management and display control chips for cell-phones. 
For these products, Chen said, it was important to have 
production close to buyers located in the Mainland. 
 
¶12. (C) The TFT-LCD manufacturing industry also faces 
industry-specific Taiwan restrictions, which prohibit 
investment using the most advanced production processes. 
AUO's Lee said his firm had down-stream manufacturing 
facilities in Suzhou and was building another facility in 
Xiamen.  However, Lee emphasized that AUO would like to 
have more flexibility about what kind of operations it 
runs in the Mainland. 
 
And Other Business Opportunities 
-------------------------------- 
 
¶13. (C) AMT's Liu commented that Taiwan's cross-Strait 
restrictions were a bigger problem for its customers like 
TSMC and ProMOS, noting Applied Materials has a separate 
 
SIPDIS 
subsidiary in the Mainland.  However, he complained that 
the Taiwan government had failed to approve a request to 
re-export to China used semiconductor manufacturing 
equipment, which AMT had refurbished in Taiwan.  Noting 
the shortage of entry-level engineers in Taiwan, the IC 
design executives criticized restrictions that prevent 
them from recruiting engineers in the PRC.  They also 
complained that the lack of direct air links make it 
time consuming to meet with PRC clients.  This also affects 
their ability to work with U.S. customers, who frequently 
travel to the PRC.  Because of the lack of direct flights, 
these customers are often reluctant to include a stop in 
Taipei in their itinerary, and for Taiwan executives to 
meet with them in Shanghai generally requires two days of 
travel.  The Director expressed to all of the 
interlocutors U.S. support for further liberalization of 
cross-Strait economic restrictions. 
 
Comment - Same Chorus 
--------------------- 
 
¶13. (C) The comments of Hsinchu high-tech business 
leaders reflect those that we hear from executives in 
Taipei.  Even as they complain about the Chen 
administration's management of the economy, they describe 
a positive outlook for their own company or industry. 
Specific criticisms of the administration's performance 
focus almost exclusively on cross-Strait restrictions. 
Removing the remaining cross-Strait barriers will benefit 
many of Taiwan's most competitive firms, but is 
unlikely to be the silver bullet for all of Taiwan's 
economic problems that these comments sometimes suggest. 
The experience of high-tech industries show that Taiwan 
firms can continue to thrive working under (and often 
around) Taiwan's regime of cross-Strait restrictions. 
YOUNG