Motorola expands manufacturing pact with TSMC

Motorola Inc. has broadened its agreement with foundry partner Taiwan Semiconductor Mfg. Corp. (TSMC), affecting a significant portion of the company's outsourced semiconductor manufacturing being provided by the latter.

The expanded agreement with TSMC enables Motorola to broaden its manufacturing capability for a range of technologies such as the CMOS technology, which is crucial in the production of Motorola's SoC products for high-end applications. TSMC will also be manufacturing products that are fully compatible with Motorola's process technologies.

Motorola began implementing its asset-light business model a year ago by reducing fixed-asset expenditures through factory consolidations. The company is now executing the second phase of its asset-light model through forming partnerships and joint ventures to minimize risk and provide the benefits of cost-sharing to acquire access to advanced R&D and future manufacturing.