The somewhat-infamous chip giant oversees known as Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company has continued its shopping bonanza in the fourth quarter of 2009 for new machinery equipment and related goods.

According to filings issued with the Taiwan Stock Exchange, the company has purchased 36 new machinery items in December 2009 with a total transaction cost of $1.18 billion dollars. In perspective, TSMC’s spending investments for December 2009 alone are close to triple the amount it spent last month, with a total machinery purchase investment of $1.6 billion for all of Q3 2009.

The company has estimated its 2009 capital expenditure at $2.7 billion, but the figure has been revised more than several times. On the competitive side of business, United Microelectronics Corporation (UMC) has invested in 13 separate equipment purchases between October 5th and December 23rd with a total cost of just around $276 million.

In other words, TSMC is really overhauling its investment funding and we are looking forward to a bright 2010 for this incredibly vital player in the wafer business and more broadly, in the entire information technology sector.