TSMC President, FC Tseng, Honored as a Hot Executive of 1999 by Electronic Buyer's News; Second Year In A Row A TSMC Executive Has Made Distinguished List.

Business Editors/High Tech Writers

SAN JOSE, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Dec. 21, 1999

Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (NYSE:TSM), the world's largest pure-play foundry, announced today that its president, FC Tseng, has been selected as one of 1999's hot 25 technology industry executives.

The editors of Electronic Buyer's News, a leading weekly newspaper covering the electronics industry, compile the annual list. Tseng was honored in part because of his ability to steer the company through a year of substantial growth and one marred by the destructive earthquake that hit Taiwan in September.

"Nineteen ninety-nine was a year of excitement and challenge for TSMC," said Dr. Tseng. "After a couple of years where the industry was in a down turn, demand picked up significantly and continuously, challenging us to aggressively expand our capacity. In addition, we were able to quickly return to better-than-normal production rates after a series of significant earthquakes. We anticipate that by year end, the company will have had its best year ever."

During 1999, TSMC's customer demand grew to greater than 80% that of the previous year. To meet this demand surge, TSMC's 1999 capacity expenditures plan jumped from an original $620 million to over $1.7 billion. TSMC announced the purchase of 30% of ACER Semiconductor Manufacturing Inc., broke ground for its first 300-mm fabrication facility, and accelerated the start-up of Fab 6, its first facility in Tainan, Taiwan. Today, TSMC produces nearly two million eight-inch equivalent wafers per year and holds an approximate 41% share of the foundry market.

TSMC also made significant strides in process technology in 1999, being the first semiconductor manufacturing company to offer a commercially available 0.18-micron aluminum process and a 0.18-micron copper process. These advancements place TSMC in a technology leadership position on par with market leading integrated device manufacturers - a first for pure-play foundries.

Electronic Buyer's News' Hot 25 list is one of the most prestigious in the industry. TSMC's chairman and founder, Morris Chang, was a member of the 1998 edition. Other honorees for 1999 include Artisan, Conexant, Philips and Qualcomm.

About FC Tseng

Dr. F.C. Tseng is one of the original founders of TSMC and played a major role in establishing TSMC's operational strength. He has served as TSMC's president since May 1998. Prior to that he was president of Vanguard International Semiconductor Corporation (VIS), and is considered a pioneer in establishing Taiwan's semiconductor industry. He holds a Ph.D in electrical engineering from National Cheng Kung University, Taiwan, and was awarded by the Chinese Institute of Engineers as one of the "Ten Outstanding Engineers" in 1991.

About TSMC

TSMC is the world's largest dedicated semiconductor foundry, providing the industry's leading process technology, library and IP options and other leading-edge foundry services. TSMC operates five eight-inch wafer fabs (Fab 3, 4, 5, TASMC and WaferTech), and two six-inch wafer fabs (Fabs 1 and 2). In addition, the company is ramping Fab 6, located in Tainan Taiwan, for production and has begun construction of a $1.2 billion joint venture fab with Philips Semiconductor, which is scheduled to open in Singapore in 2000. TSMC has broken ground for a new 12-inch wafer fabrication facility in Hsin-Chu and will break ground for Fab 7 in Tainan, which will be the company's sixth eight-inch fab. In year 2000, TSMC will have the capacity for nearly 3 million 8-inch equivalent wafers. Fabrication processes offered by TSMC include CMOS logic, mixed-mode, volatile and non-volatile memory, and BiCMOS. TSMC's corporate headquarters are in Hsin-Chu, Taiwan. More information about TSMC is available through the World Wide Web at http://www.tsmc.com.