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My trip to Taiwan this week was very productive. 28nm yield, 20nm challenges, 2011 review, 2012 strategies, this will be a very good year for the semiconductor ecosystem! And of course for SemiWiki. It is the year of the dragon which is considered the luckiest year in the Chinese Zodiac. Luck is always a good thing!
Driving to the airport Sunday night is so easy ( no traffic ) I can take pictures while I drive. The San Francisco lights you see while crossing the San Mateo bridge are awsome! It is illegal to stop on the bridge and take pictures otherwise I would have. Click to enlarge pictures.
No crowds, no wait, no worries. I always get there two hours before departure so I can relax at the executive club. It's the only time people bring me food and drink. Usually it is the other way around.
The long walk to the gate. No pictures of security. That would be asking for a cavity search!
Taiwan and other Asia airports have a health check station. It looks to be a heat sensor to see if you have a fever but I never asked. I'm just surprised they can get a read on my big head.
This is the cattle call area where we all line up like cows to get through immigration. It's 6am Taiwan time so no lines today. After a 14 hour flight people tend to get grumpy when waiting in line. When it is crowded, sometimes I moo like a cow to lighten the mood.
Yes I check my bag, trying to set a good example for the rest of the herd but still people carry on loads of junk and delay departure and arrival. I have seen many cases of head injuries and aisle rage as a result! EVA has NEVER lost one of my checked bags. United, American, and China Airlines absolutely but not EVA.
This is the free breakfast at the hotel. It is also a great guessing game called "What is this I'm eating?!?!?!"
This is Hsinchu City, the TSMC and UMC fabs are close by. Hsinchu means "the windy city" and this week the wind is howling. If you look at a Taiwan map, Hsinchu is on the North West side on the water.
This week is the Lantern Festival. Flying hot air lanterns, fireworks, trying to scare away evil spirits and demons. The only thing they scared away was the good weather! It has been very cold and rainy since! These gentlemen are burning paper to symbolize sending money to the ghosts and gods for protection. I guess I do the same thing with my children. I give them money (might as well burn it) in hopes they will protect me when I'm old.
This is a popular local temple also burning stuff to scare away evil. I have a great respect for Buddhism which is a popular religion in Taiwan, also Toaism. I have studied both from reading the books in hotel desk drawers so I'm an expert: Buddhism is from India, Toaism is from China. Lots of vegetarians in India so Buddhists are vegetarians. Toaists are not so I'm more aligned with Taoism. Also, in Buddhism there is a lot of suffering before you reach spiritual bliss and I do not have a lot of experience with suffering. Taoism is much more about aligning yourself with the universe which involves less suffering. But what do I know, I'm just a blogger. It is funny to see Mormon missionaries in Taiwan. To be Mormon you have to give up Caffeine (tea and coffee) so good luck with that in Taiwan!
Lantern ready for launch! Watch out evil spirits!
I really enjoy working with UMC. They are very humble and hard working people. This photo is taken from the TSMC Fab 12 front door. Yes they are right across the street. TSMC Fab 12 is a fab but also where TSMC executives are including Dr. Morris Chang. I got a tour of Fab 12 a while back and blogged about it HERE. It was amazing, one of the most memorable experiences I have had as a semiconductor professional. No pictures inside Fab 12 are allowed, sorry, they take all cameras.
Also across the street from TSMC Fab 12 is Global Unichip Corporation (GUC). I always try and stop in GUC for tea and see what is new. Their investor conference is on Friday so they are very busy with that. I will try and get a transcript since I could not get it on my schedule this trip. The best part of semiconductor company conference calls are the analyst questions at the end. It is usually good comedy relief since most have never been near a fab much less in one.
This is Etta, my driver in Taiwan. You could not ask for a better tour guide she is never late and does not crash. It was her birthday on Tuesday and she still insisted on buying me lunch, that is the Taiwan way. Taiwanese aboriginal food is my favorite and Etta knows all the best places.
A traditional end to a long day in Taiwan. That is considered one beer and those little green balls on the plate are wasabi pills of death! You will literally breath fire! Which is why the Taiwan beers are so big, to put out big fires.
This is 10pm at night, not even rush hour. In California pedestrians have the right of way. In Taiwan pedestrians have a death wish. I will upload a video of the Taiwan crossing light for pedestrians. It is a green man walking and as the time runs out the little green man runs for his life, and you should too!
Even though the motor scooters swarm like bees and swerve around cars you rarely see any crashes here. Sometimes it looks like a well choreographed dance, sometimes it looks like a drunken stampede.
Nestled in between Giga Fabs and towering building are little sanctuaries reminding us of the importance of piece of mind and stopping to smell the flowers.
Taiwan is not all semiconductors, there are also some amazing sights to see, from green tea farms and tasting rooms, to beautiful mountains and sea shore. This is Green Island, the best place to scuba dive in Taiwan. Lots of history behind it, Taiwan's version of Alcatraz turned shangrila.
My trip ends at the EVA Lounge where they have showers, food, drink, stuffed chairs and a very nice WiFi connection. You never know what traffic will be like in Taiwan so I always leave early (especially on Fridays) allowing plenty of time to get to the lounge, relax, wrap up loose ends, and get ready for the long trip home.
This is my favorite place in the EVA lounge. There is a game room, flat screen TVs, a business center, but you can always find me at the steamed buns! Also known as cha siu bao. They are filled with just about anything and I have never met one I didn't like. Yes I really like my buns steamed.
They key take-aways of this trip are that 28nm yield is fine. Most people who have written about it have no idea what semiconductor yield really is. UMC is fine, they have doubled CAPEX due to their recent success at 28nm. TSMC won the 28nm race, UMC is in second, and Samsung/GFI/IBM is a distant third. If you want to worry about something semiconductor, worry about SMIC. Rumor: GFI is invading Japan, I would not be surprised if they take over a Japan fab or two.
20nm is progressing, test chips are running, we should see production quality silicon in Q4 2012. I see TSMC winning this race as well but only time will tell. I still think you will see 3D transistors at 20nm before 14nm but would not bet on it, yet. The biggest challenge moving forward at 20nm is AMS design. New tools and methodologies will be required. More simulation, more corners, and accuracy will be key. I will blog more about this in the coming weeks, it will be an exciting node for sure!
"It is the year of the dragon which is considered the luckiest year in the Chinese Zodiac. Luck is always a good thing!"
D.A.N.
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Originally Posted by Daniel Nenni 
