The groundbreaking ceremony was conducted by TSMC Chairman and CEO Dr. Morris Chang.

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So-called fabless semiconductor companies such as Altera and Xilinx arose in the 1980s to design specialized chips while leaving the wafer line-work to such all-purpose foundries as Morris Chang's Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. (see story, p. 50).

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One semiconductor industry leader, Morris Chang, who is the chairman and CEO of Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Ltd . ( TSM), just recently painted a very dismal outlook not only for the economy but for the semiconductor industry.

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