STMicroelectronics (ST) has been ranked as one of the top 5 semiconductor players in the world, currently with 46,000 staff providing products and services for more than 100,000 customers globally. Moreover, ST is continuously investing in manufacture and positioned itself as an independent device manufacturer (IDM). The 11 manufacturing sites in the world master all aspects of the semiconductor supply chain and offer the customers the quality, flexibility, and supply security required.

ST started its operation in Taipei in 1984, then expanded to Hsinchu in 2010 with a plant located in the Hsinchu Science Park. Mr. Giuseppe Izzo, the Vice President, Asian Pacific Region of STMicroelectronics and Managing Director of ST Taiwan, has been in Taiwan for almost three decades. To recognize his long-term commitment to promoting Taiwan and Europe Relationship, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) of Taiwan-ROC presented the Friendship Medal for Mr. Izzo in 2020.

The Key Partners Well-connected by ST through Taiwan

Mr. Izzo said that “Taiwan is an important country for the business of ST, especially being the home of global key accounts, OEM manufacturers and distributors.” In his opening, Mr. Izzo well-defined the three key partners connected by the Taiwan subsidiary. He then further elaborated the triple functions of ST Taiwan in the ST’s global deployment – supporting for key accounts, working closely with global standard contract manufacturers and internationally-connected distributors, details as follows: “With this organization in Taipei, we do work with the contract manufacturers and then also make products for our customers. We work with our Taiwanese distributors, among global leaders, companies like WT Microelectronics, WPG. Through close cooperation with Taiwanese partners, we have made our global influence”

The Holistic Leadership of Taiwan’s Semiconductor Industry

In terms of Taiwan’s advantage in the semiconductor industry, Mr. Izzo used holistic leadership to describe Taiwan’s importance in the world semiconductor sector. He pointed out that “Taiwan has many leaderships as I said before, that many companies identified as global key accounts, the leaders No.1 in the world. We are pleased to be working with them, being working with them for three or four decades, then with these corporations, with contract manufacturers that also make big impacts on the company.”

“Most important of all, Taiwan is one of the core clusters of global semiconductors at present. When we talk about semiconductors, we take an overall view of Taiwanese leadership, not only about the wafer or related activities. We are addressing these from the manufacturing point of view, from the machinery point of view, from foundry point of view., etc.” Actually, with almost three decades of personal interaction with Taiwan’s semiconductor manufacturers, Mr. Izzo’s observation and insight into the Taiwan semiconductor industry is comprehensive and with depth.

ST’s Future Prospects of Operations in Taiwan

We know that sustainability is an integral part of ST, under this guideline, ST has well-identified three trends for company’s future development – smart mobility, efficient power and energy management, and the Internet of Things (IoT), accelerated by the advent of 5G era. All these trends call for a more sustainable world.

First of all, smart mobility means thinking differently about how we move around, reducing pollution and congestion. ST’s car electrification solutions enable makers to build better more affordable electric vehicles while its ADAS solutions support its customers’ quest to make driving safer.

Secondly, the more efficient power and energy management across all devices and systems address the increasing global energy demand while reducing environmental impacts. ST has a long history of innovations in the field of power and energy management and will continue to lead green technologies and materials development such as Silicon Carbide and Gallium Nitride.

The third trend is the large-scale deployment of the Internet of Things (IoT), accelerated by the rollout of 5G development. ST products pioneered the Internet of Things (IoT) transformation and big data collection, as well as data security.

Based on sustainability as the core and three trends as the directions, ST Taiwan has been active in engaging in R&D. Mr. Izzo further elaborated on ST''''''''s R&D operation in Taiwan. “When we talk about R&D, we have to classify two types of activities. One activity is about the wafer and semiconductor themselves, and one activity is about the systems. In Taiwan, we invest more in system development, which is called Competence Center. We do have a large Competence Center in the Taipei office, addressing the third-generation semiconductors. Therefore, we keep investing in scale expansion, combined with Taiwan’s manufacturing infrastructures, to support our customers and to also work better with our suppliers.”

All in all, thanks for ST positioning Taiwan as one of its critical operation bases in the world with comprehensive functions covering: manufacturing, sales & marketing, materials sourcing, R&D, etc. We are delighted to see ST Taiwan not only provides products & services for its global scale key accounts, but also works closely with those Taiwan-based contract manufacturers and distributors to serve customers all over the world, and jointly explore the future business of semiconductor.