American Semiconductor Maker Texas Instruments to Finish Packaging and Testing Plant in Chengdu
At the China International Import Expo (CIIE), which opened on November 5, Texas Instruments, a semiconductor design and manufacturing enterprise located in Texas, US, announced that its second packaging and testing plant at the manufacturing base in Chengdu, Sichuan Province, will complete the installation and commissioning of equipment within the year and will be put into production within the next few months.
Founded in 1930, Texas Instruments focuses on analog and embedded chips, and is one of the oldest chip companies in the world. Morris Chang, founder of Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC), and Richard Chang, founder of Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corporation (SMIC), all have worked here. Texas Instruments entered China in 1986 and set up R&D centers and product line teams in Shanghai, Shenzhen and Beijing. The company also established a manufacturing base in Chengdu and two product distribution centers in the country. In 2021, Texas Instruments’ total operating income was $18.34 billion.
Texas Instruments’ manufacturing base in Chengdu is its largest investment in China and is currently undergoing expansion. Zhao Mengqing, director of the packaging and testing factory in Chengdu, noted that the manufacturing base, which was founded in 2010, is the company’s only one in China, including wafer manufacturing, testing, bump processing, packaging and testing.
“The products manufactured in Chengdu are sent to three large product distribution centers in Shenzhen, Shanghai and Singapore, and are sold all over the world, not just in China,” Zhao Mengqing said. The packaging and testing plant that will be put into production had begun construction in 2018 and was expected to boost the capacity of the manufacturing base.
The Shanghai product distribution center also completed an automation upgrade. According to Texas Instruments, the work in the center was originally mainly done by manpower, but now it is equipped with advanced equipment such as robots to bring more accurate inventory management and faster order processing.
Zhao Mengqing said that the two investments will greatly strengthen the support for Texas Instruments’ customers in the Asia Pacific region. “Texas Instruments has spent a lot of energy upgrading the product distribution center in Shanghai this year. After upgrading, the operating space of the center has changed from 4,000 square meters to 9,000 square meters.” At present, both Shenzhen and Shanghai distribution centers can deliver products to local customers on the same day and to customers in other parts of the country within a few days.
At present, Texas Instruments has more than 150 applications in the automotive field and more than 300 reference designs, which are supplied to all automotive companies in the world. Cai Zheng, general manager of Texas Instruments’s China Automotive Division, introduced that, with the help of the company’s chip solution, automobile customers can complete their design more quickly and reduce the development cycle of the vehicle from 24 months to 12 months.
Texas Instruments’ third-quarter financial report showed that it garnered a revenue of $5.241 billion, a year-on-year increase of 13%. while its net profit was $2.295 billion, up 18% year-on-year. However, due to the slowdown in chip demand, Texas Instruments expects revenue of $4.4 billion to $4.8 billion in the fourth quarter. Rich Templeton, chairman and CEO of Texas Instruments, said that the weak demand for consumer electronics is also spreading to the whole industry, but he stressed that the market demand for automotive chips is still strong.
