|
January 7, 1998 (TAIPEI) -- Holtek Microelectronics Corp. said it
developed an integrated circuit for telephone cards, and the
company hopes to use this as a key technology to make inroads
into the IC card market.
| Separately, Macronix International Co., Ltd. is expanding its 8-
inch microchip wafer plant, with monthly production expected to
reach 25,000 units by the end of 1998. The expansion is aimed at
integrating systems on chips.
Both Holtek and Macronix offer application-specific integrated
circuits (ASICs) through their ASICs foundries, which are
boosting Taiwan's overall semiconductor industry.
Holtek said that the newly developed EEPROM IC telephone cards
are superior to the previous generation. Chung Hwa Telecom plans
to replace the existing telephone sets with newer ones.
Holtek offers telephone IC cards to a number of system producers.
The technology also will be applied to the production of PCs and
telecommunications ICs, including smart cards, credit cards,
financial cards and identification cards.
By 2000, global demand for IC smart cards will likely reach US$33
billion.
(Commercial Times, Taiwan)
|
