By South China Morning Post | Created at 2024-12-04 08:46:23 | Updated at 2024-12-04 19:26:28
10 hours ago
The Dutch chipmaker and its Taiwanese partner Vanguard International Semiconductor Corp (VIS) on Wednesday broke ground on a joint chip plant in Singapore’s east region.
The partners are already working on a phase-two expansion, NXP executive vice-president Andy Micallef told Bloomberg News on the sidelines of the ceremony, though he said that addition has yet to be formally approved.
“We are continuing to invest in Singapore,” he said. “We are continuing on phase two of this when we get to 2030. Singapore is a very important site for NXP.”
The planned expansion reflects a growing concern among gadget makers that escalating tensions in the Taiwan Strait could disrupt supplies of semiconductors required by everything from smartphones to electric vehicles (EVs). Taiwanese firms, led by TSMC, still make the bulk of the world’s chips.
This week, tensions between the US and China intensified after the Biden administration slapped more curbs on China’s access to foreign technologies, while Beijing retaliated by banning exports of some critical materials to America.
