Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) yesterday obtained the government’s approval to inject an additional US$10.26 billion to finance the construction of its second fab in Kumamoto, Japan, and a second fab in Arizona, using advanced process technologies.
The Department of Investment Review approved TSMC’s investment applications on the basis that Taiwan remains a major technology and manufacturing hub for the chipmaker, which makes its most advanced chips at home, the company operates its research-and-development center here and the majority of its capacity remains in Taiwan.
The latest capital injections — US$5.26 billion for its Japanese venture Japan Advanced Semiconductor Manufacturing Inc and US$5 billion for TSMC Arizona Corp — would help the chipmaker deepen its partnerships with local supply chains and recruitment of skillful talent, the department said in a statement.
Photo: AFP
That would help safeguard the nation’s semiconductor industry’s competitiveness in the long term, the statement said.
TSMC’s second Arizona fab is to upgrade its process technology to 2 nanometers to support customers’ strong demand for artificial intelligence (AI) in addition to 3-nanometer technology, the world’s biggest contract chipmaker told investors in April.
The new Arizona fab is to enter volume production in 2028, about three years after the first Arizona fab ramps up production in the first half of next year, which was pushed back from an earlier schedule of late this year due to a lack of sufficient technicians and skilled workers.
The second Kumamoto fab is designed to produce chips from 6-nanometer to 40-nanometers used in automotive, industrial and high-performance-computing applications, TSMC said.
The construction is to start in the second half of this year, with volume production targeted by the end of 2027, it said.
The first fab in Kumamoto is to enter volume production of 12-nanometer, 16-nanometer, 22-nanometer and 28-nanometer chips in the fourth quarter of this year as scheduled, the chipmaker said.
Wire and cable maker Walsin Lihwa Corp (華新麗華) yesterday also won approval to invest US$160 million in its fully owned subsidiary in Singapore, Walsin Singapore Pte Ltd.
The department yesterday also gave the go-ahead to electronic components supplier Lite-On Technology Corp’s US$89.38 million plan to acquire equities of Japan’s Cosel Co (光寶科技), a producer of power supplies and noise filters.
The investment would allow Lite-On to indirectly own Cosel’s four Chinese units, the department said.
TRADE WAR: Tariffs should also apply to any goods that pass through the new Beijing-funded port in Chancay, Peru, an adviser to US president-elect Donald Trump said A veteran adviser to US president-elect Donald Trump is proposing that the 60 percent tariffs that Trump vowed to impose on Chinese goods also apply to goods from any country that pass through a new port that Beijing has built in Peru. The duties should apply to goods from China or countries in South America that pass through the new deep-water port Chancay, a town 60km north of Lima, said Mauricio Claver-Carone, an adviser to the Trump transition team who served as senior director for the western hemisphere on the White House National Security Council in his first administration. “Any product going
TECH SECURITY: The deal assures that ‘some of the most sought-after technology on the planet’ returns to the US, US Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo said The administration of US President Joe Biden finalized its CHIPS Act incentive awards for Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), marking a major milestone for a program meant to bring semiconductor production back to US soil. TSMC would get US$6.6 billion in grants as part of the contract, the US Department of Commerce said in a statement yesterday. Though the amount was disclosed earlier this year as part of a preliminary agreement, the deal is now legally binding — making it the first major CHIPS Act award to reach this stage. The chipmaker, which is also taking up to US$5 billion
High above the sparkling surface of the Athens coastline, the cranes for building the 50-floor luxury tower centerpiece of Greece’s future “smart city” look out over the Saronic Gulf. At their feet, construction machinery stirs up dust. Its backers say the 8 billion euro (US$8.43 billion) project financed by private funds is a symbol of Greece’s renaissance after the years of financial stagnation that saw investors flee the country. However, critics see it more as a future “ghetto for the rich.” It is hard to imagine that 10km from the Acropolis, a new city “three times the size of Monaco”
STRUGGLING BUSINESS: South Korea’s biggest company and semiconductor manufacturer’s buyback fuels concerns that it could be missing out on the AI boom Samsung Electronics Co plans to buy back about 10 trillion won (US$7.2 billion) of its own stock over the next year, putting in motion one of the larger shareholder return programs in its history. South Korea’s biggest company would repurchase the stock in stages over the coming 12 months, it said in a regulatory filing on Friday. As a first step, it would buy back about 3 trillion won of paper starting today up until February next year, all of which it would cancel. The board would deliberate on how best to effect the remaining 7 trillion won of buybacks. The move