Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co., Ltd. announced that their solar energy subsidiary TSMC Solar Ltd. will terminate operation at the end of August 2015.
TSMC said that although TSMC Solar's CIGS thin-film technology boasts leading conversion efficiency, it does not have a competitive advantage in cost.
After TSMC Solar is closed, the company's 365 employees will be transferred to TSMC.
Commenting on this decision, TSMC Solar's chairman and TSMC's senior vice president Steve Tso said that TSMC continues to believe that solar module manufacturing remains a robust and growing industry, but despite six years of hard work they have not found a way to make a sustainable profit. Therefore, they decided to terminate the operation.
TSMC predicted that the closure of the solar subsidiary will impact the company's earnings by NTD0.07 per share.