ABSTRACT
This chapter begins by describing the nature and scope of Taiwan’s integrated circuit (IC) industry, as well as discussing its performance. Moreover, it investigates the most important reasons for the industry’s success, including favorable government policies and marketplace conditions. The chapter focuses on the midstream manufacturers of ICs. Beginning in 1975, the government of Taiwan began promoting the development of the IC industry. Since then, the industry has achieved remarkable success. This success can be described in terms of the increase in sales volume, the growth of firms, the rising level of technological sophistication, and increased productivity. With the successful completion of Electronics Research and Service Organization’s demonstration factory in 1979, Taiwan’s IC industry had become comprehensive, possessing its own production, technology, and sales ability. In 1979, the industry remained at the packaging stage, but the manufacturing technology for CMOS was already very developed.
