Hsinchu, Taiwan, R.O.C. – April 9, 2007 – Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company, Ltd. (TSE: 2330, NYSE: TSM) today announced that it would complete 45nm technology qualification and enter production as early as September 2007. The new 45nm process combines the most advanced 193nm immersion photolithography, competitive performance-enhancing silicon strains, and extreme low-k (ELK) inter-metal dielectric material.

TSMC’s 45nm low power process (LP) provides twice the density of 65nm with significantly lower power and manufacturing cost per die. End products are expected to achieve 40 percent greater functionality or 40 percent smaller die size, with reduced power consumption. These factors are particularly crucial for system on chip (SoC) designs with an ever-smaller footprint for cell phones, portable media players, PDAs and other handheld devices.

TSMC’s 45nm general purpose and high performance process (GS) provides more than double the density and a greater than 30 percent speed enhancement over the previous generation at similar leakage power, which is especially critical to support applications in PC, networking, and wired communication. The performance boost of 45nm LP and GS has already earned broad acceptance and support among customers, EDA, and IP partners.

“Customers expect both performance and reliability from TSMC, a fact that has guided the development of our 45nm process every step of the way,” said Dr. Rick Tsai, president and CEO of TSMC. “With 45nm solution ready and production to be started in September, TSMC provides next-generation technology at the earliest possible time.”