Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) yesterday said that Japan Advanced Semiconductor Manufacturing Inc (JASM), its majority-owned subsidiary in Kumamoto Prefecture, plans to build a second wafer fab to meet growing customer demand, broadening its offerings to include advanced 6-nanometer and 7-nanometer chips.
Moreover, JASM is to add a new shareholder, Toyota Motor Corp, which is to take a minority stake of 2 percent, joining Sony Semiconductor Solutions Corp (SSS) and DENSO Corp, a joint statement said.
“In response to rising customer demand, JASM plans to commence construction of its second fab by the end of 2024. The increased production scale is also expected to improve overall cost structure and supply chain efficiency for JASM,” the statement said.
Photo: Bloomberg
JASM’s new factory is scheduled to start operations by the end of the 2027, three years after the opening of its first fab, the statement said.
Together with JASM’s first fab, overall investment in JASM would exceed US$20 billion, with strong support from the Japanese government, it said.
TSMC, the world’s biggest contract chipmaker, last month said that JASM’s first fab is on track to start volume production in the fourth quarter of this year, focusing on less-advanced chips from 12-nanometer, 16-nanometer, 22-nanometer to 28-nanometer chips.
With both fabs, JASM’s Kumamoto site is expected to offer a total production capacity of more than 100,000 12-inch equivalent wafers per month — from 40-nanometer to 6-nanometer and 7 nanometer process technologies — for automotive, industrial, consumer and high-performance-computing-related applications, the statement said.
The capacity plan might be further adjusted depending on customer demand, it said.
With both fabs, the Kumamoto site is expected to directly create more than 3,400 high-tech jobs.
TSMC holds a 86.5 percent stake in JASM, while SSS and DENSO own minority stakes of 6 percent and 5.5 percent respectively.
In a separate statement, TSMC’s board of directors yesterday approved the capital injection of not more than US$5.26 billion into JASM and not more than US$5 billion into TSMC Arizona, a wholly owned subsidiary.
In addition, the board approved the capital injection of not more than US$3 billion into TSMC Global Ltd to reduce its foreign exchange hedging costs.
The board gave the go-ahead to the capital appropriations of approximately US$9.42 billion primarily for the installation of advanced technology capacity, advanced packaging, mature or specialty technology capacity, as well as fab construction and installation of fab facility systems.
It also approved the distribution of a cash dividend of NT$3.50 per share for the fourth quarter of last year, as well as the distribution of employee performance bonuses and profit sharing totaling approximately NT$100.18 billion (US$3.19 billion) for last year.
Tropical Storm Usagi strengthened to a typhoon yesterday morning and remains on track to brush past southeastern Taiwan from tomorrow to Sunday, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. As of 2pm yesterday, the storm was approximately 950km east-southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan proper’s southernmost point, the CWA said. It is expected to enter the Bashi Channel and then turn north, moving into waters southeast of Taiwan, it said. The agency said it could issue a sea warning in the early hours of today and a land warning in the afternoon. As of 2pm yesterday, the storm was moving at
DISCONTENT: The CCP finds positive content about the lives of the Chinese living in Taiwan threatening, as such video could upset people in China, an expert said Chinese spouses of Taiwanese who make videos about their lives in Taiwan have been facing online threats from people in China, a source said yesterday. Some young Chinese spouses of Taiwanese make videos about their lives in Taiwan, often speaking favorably about their living conditions in the nation compared with those in China, the source said. However, the videos have caught the attention of Chinese officials, causing the spouses to come under attack by Beijing’s cyberarmy, they said. “People have been messing with the YouTube channels of these Chinese spouses and have been harassing their family members back in China,”
The Central Weather Administration (CWA) yesterday said there are four weather systems in the western Pacific, with one likely to strengthen into a tropical storm and pose a threat to Taiwan. The nascent tropical storm would be named Usagi and would be the fourth storm in the western Pacific at the moment, along with Typhoon Yinxing and tropical storms Toraji and Manyi, the CWA said. It would be the first time that four tropical cyclones exist simultaneously in November, it added. Records from the meteorology agency showed that three tropical cyclones existed concurrently in January in 1968, 1991 and 1992.
GEOPOLITICAL CONCERNS: Foreign companies such as Nissan, Volkswagen and Konica Minolta have pulled back their operations in China this year Foreign companies pulled more money from China last quarter, a sign that some investors are still pessimistic even as Beijing rolls out stimulus measures aimed at stabilizing growth. China’s direct investment liabilities in its balance of payments dropped US$8.1 billion in the third quarter, data released by the Chinese State Administration of Foreign Exchange showed on Friday. The gauge, which measures foreign direct investment (FDI) in China, was down almost US$13 billion for the first nine months of the year. Foreign investment into China has slumped in the past three years after hitting a record in 2021, a casualty of geopolitical tensions,
RSS