China’s Leading Chip Maker SMIC Obtains $3.15 Million Property in Shenzhen for 12-Inch Wafer Plant

Shenzhen Business Daily reported on Tuesday that Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corporation (SMIC) recently obtained new property Pingshan District, Shenzhen, for 20.1 million yuan ($3.15 million), spanning a total land area of 34,703 square meters and a building area of 69,410 square meters. The property will be used to set up an original equipment manufacturing (OEM) plant for12-inch wafers.

According to the announcement issued by the Investment Promotion Service Department of Pingshan District, the project is to develop 12-inch display driver chips and power management chips. Facilities such as a gas station and chemical warehouse will be built in the plant to produce nitrogen, oxygen and chemicals such as acid and alkali.

As early as March this year, SMIC announced that it would expand its 12-inch wafer production capacity in Shenzhen. Total investment for this project is estimated to be $2.35 billion, with production scheduled to start in 2022.

SMIC is one of the world’s leading IC wafer OEM enterprises. One of the founders of the company is Zhang Rujing, who once worked for Taiwan-based competitor TSMC. At present, two chief executive officers of the company are Liang Mengsong and Zhao Haijun, who once worked for Samsung and TSMC.

According to the latest survey conducted by Jibang Consulting, the output value of the top ten wafer OEM enterprises in the world reached $24.407 billion in the second quarter of this year, an increase of 6.2% from the first quarter, and has reached a record high for eight consecutive quarters since the third quarter of 2019. Among them, SMIC ranks fifth.

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In August this year, SMIC indicated that it had signed a cooperation agreement with the management committee of the Lingang New Area in Shanghai Pilot Free Trade Zone, and planned to build a 12-inch wafer OEM project with a production capacity of 100,000 wafers per month.