A battle for control over a leading Taiwanese semiconductor company, between a local rival and China’s biggest chip group, is highlighting the dilemma for Taiwan’s crucial technology sector over how best to manage the mainland's huge investment in the industry.
Last week Tsinghua Unigroup, which is spearheading China’s huge state-led semiconductor investment drive, announced plans to buy 24.9 per cent of Siliconware Precision Industries for Rmb11.1bn ($1.7bn).
SPIL is the second-biggest Taiwanese company in outsourced packaging and testing — the final stage of the semiconductor manufacturing process, in which chips are assembled into usable form and in which Taiwan controls about 50 per cent of the global market.