Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. (TSMC), the world’s largest contract chipmaker, confirmed Friday that Kumamoto Prefecture Governor Ikuo Kabashima visited TSMC headquarters in the Hsinchu Science Park on Thursday, calling it a “courtesy call.”
TSMC confirmed an earlier media report that Kabashima made the visit. It comes at a time when TSMC is building a fab in the Japanese city that will produce chips using the 12-nanometer, 16nm and 22nm processes and 28nm specialty technology starting in 2024.
According to the report, it was the first time a Kumamoto Prefecture governor had visited Taiwan since TSMC invested there.
Japanese news outlets cited Kabashima as saying before he left for Taiwan that he expected TSMC and his prefecture to forge an excellent relationship and that his visit would facilitate exchanges and give them a better understanding of the needs of the two sides.
Beyond the “courtesy call” to TSMC, Kabashima and his delegation met with more than 100 representatives from Taiwan’s semiconductor, tourism and financial sectors to promote economic exchanges with Kumamoto and invite Taiwanese companies to invest there, the Taiwan report said.
Kabashima’s visit to TSMC coincided with TSMC CEO C.C. Wei (???) saying at an investor conference Thursday that TSMC is studying the possibility of building a second wafer fab in Japan if it gets support from the Japanese government and its clients.
Local media have reported, however, that TSMC’s second fab in Japan would also be built in Kumamoto after 2024, and use the company’s advanced 7nm process.
In November 2021, TSMC announced it would invest up to US$2.12 billion in the Kumamoto fab by setting up a TSMC-majority-owned subsidiary in Japan to provide foundry services and have Sony Semiconductor Solutions Corp. (SSS) take a stake of up to 20 percent in the new company.
In February 2022, Japan’s Denso Corp. said it would take a stake of more than 10 percent in the TSMC joint venture.
Analysts said the move by TSMC to set up the joint venture with Sony was to reinforce its partnership with Sony, one of TSMC’s most important clients, in specialty process development.
According to the joint venture, known as Japan Advanced Semiconductor Manufacturing (JASM), the plant under construction in Kumamoto will have a workforce of 1,700.
About 230 of those workers will be deployed by TSMC from Taiwan and around 200 will be provided by Sony Corp., which owns SSS, with the remainder local recruits.
JASM said TSMC dispatched a first batch of 10 technicians from Taiwan to Kumamoto in March 2022.
In addition to Japan, TSMC is building fabs in Arizona that will make chips using the 4nm and 3nm processes, with mass production scheduled to begin in 2024 and 2026.
It is also considering building a fab in Europe that would focus on chips used in automotive electronics, Wei said Thursday.
Source: Focus Taiwan News Channel