With major China-based chipmakers set to build new 12-inch fabs, the overall 12-inch fab capacity in China is expected to peak over the next two to three years.

Semiconductor Manufacturing International (SMIC) has disclosed plans to open new 12-inch fabs - one in Shanghai and the other in Shenzhen. The new 12-inch fab in Shanghai is scheduled to go into volume production for 14nm chips in 2018, while the 12-inch line in Shenzhen will be engaged in the manufacture of chips made using mature process technologies with early production expected to begin by the end of 2017. The new facilities will bring in an additional 110,000 12-inch wafers monthly.

Shanghai Huali Microelectronics (HLMC) recently held a groundbreaking ceremony for its second 12-inch fab in Shanghai, with volume production scheduled for the second half of 2018. The new fab will directly enter 28nm production with monthly capacity set at 40,000 units.

Startup Huaian Imaging Device Manufacturer (HIDM) plans to build a 12-inch fab in Huaian, Jiangsu province, with production capacity set at 20,000 wafers monthly. Founded in 2016, HIDM specializes in the design and manufacture of CMOS image sensor devices.

China's state-backed Tsinghua Unigroup is looking to establish a 12-inch fab in Chengdu, Sichuan province, which will be designed for the fabrication of logic chips, but has not disclosed further details about the facility.

In addition, Tsinghua Unigroup recently broke ground for a memory fab in Nanjing (Jiangsu province) designed for monthly capacity of 100,000 units, while its subsidiary Yangtze River Storage Technology is constructing a new memory plant in Wuhan (Hubei province), which will be dedicated to producing 3D NAND flash memory with volume production slated for 2018.

Fujian Jin Hua Integrated Circuit, which will production technologies developed by Taiwan's United Microelectronics (UMC), is constructing a 12-inch wafer fab for the manufacture of DRAM products with a goal of outputting 120,000 wafers monthly. UMC, with funding from Jin Hua, has assigned a group of engineers to develop 25/30nm process technologies that will be used for making chips at Jin Hua's 12-inch fab in Quanzhou, Fujian.

Hefei Chang Xin, a joint venture between GigaDevice Semiconductor and the Hefei city government of China's Anhui province, has plans to establish a 12-inch wafer fab capable of producing 125,000 units monthly. Hefei Chang Xin is expected to emerge and compete with Yangtze River Storage and Jin Hua for the title of China's largest memory chipmaker starting in 2018.