Toshiba Corp is to build a new 300mm wafer fabrication plant for power semiconductors that would more than double its production capacity by March 2025, the company said yesterday.
Construction of the new facility in Japan’s Ishikawa Prefecture would take place in two phases, the company said.
When the first phase is fully operational, Toshiba’s power semiconductor capacity would be 2.5 times greater than in fiscal 2021.
Photo: Bloomberg
Toshiba would invest about ￥100 billion (US$870 million) to build the facility, the Nikkei newspaper reported earlier.
The move comes as auto and electronics makers struggle to procure even basic chips for routine tasks such as power management and wireless connectivity.
TDK Corp last month warned that shortages of components are unlikely to abate for the rest of this year, while console makers Sony Group Corp and Nintendo Co this week said that they expect semiconductor and shipping challenges to persist.
Vehicle electrification and the automation of industrial equipment are two major trends driving up demand for power-regulating chips, Toshiba said in its statement.
It is targeting 100 percent reliance on renewable energy for the fab, it said.
Toshiba in September last year said it was struggling to fulfill orders because of shortages of materials and output capacity.
Despite investor concern that demand would evaporate after the frenzy for electronics fueled by the COVID-19 pandemic, the company is confident that orders would keep growing rapidly enough to sell out all its production lines for years to come.
Toshiba is due to brief investors on its business strategies next week as it tussles with activist shareholders over the future of the company.
The company in November last year said that it plans to split into three firms as a way to create value for shareholders, but one major stock holder has publicly questioned the plan, while another leading investor has called on Toshiba to rebuild trust with shareholders after years of scandals and corporate governance issues.
SEEKING CLARITY: Washington should not adopt measures that create uncertainties for ‘existing semiconductor investments,’ TSMC said referring to its US$165 billion in the US Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) told the US that any future tariffs on Taiwanese semiconductors could reduce demand for chips and derail its pledge to increase its investment in Arizona. “New import restrictions could jeopardize current US leadership in the competitive technology industry and create uncertainties for many committed semiconductor capital projects in the US, including TSMC Arizona’s significant investment plan in Phoenix,” the chipmaker wrote in a letter to the US Department of Commerce. TSMC issued the warning in response to a solicitation for comments by the department on a possible tariff on semiconductor imports by US President Donald Trump’s
‘FAILED EXPORT CONTROLS’: Jensen Huang said that Washington should maximize the speed of AI diffusion, because not doing so would give competitors an advantage Nvidia Corp cofounder and chief executive officer Jensen Huang (黃仁勳) yesterday criticized the US government’s restrictions on exports of artificial intelligence (AI) chips to China, saying that the policy was a failure and would only spur China to accelerate AI development. The export controls gave China the spirit, motivation and government support to accelerate AI development, Huang told reporters at the Computex trade show in Taipei. The competition in China is already intense, given its strong software capabilities, extensive technology ecosystems and work efficiency, he said. “All in all, the export controls were a failure. The facts would suggest it,” he said. “The US
The government has launched a three-pronged strategy to attract local and international talent, aiming to position Taiwan as a new global hub following Nvidia Corp’s announcement that it has chosen Taipei as the site of its Taiwan headquarters. Nvidia cofounder and CEO Jensen Huang (黃仁勳) on Monday last week announced during his keynote speech at the Computex trade show in Taipei that the Nvidia Constellation, the company’s planned Taiwan headquarters, would be located in the Beitou-Shilin Technology Park (北投士林科技園區) in Taipei. Huang’s decision to establish a base in Taiwan is “primarily due to Taiwan’s talent pool and its strength in the semiconductor
French President Emmanuel Macron has expressed gratitude to Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (鴻海精密) for its plan to invest approximately 250 million euros (US$278 million) in a joint venture in France focused on the semiconductor and space industries. On his official X account on Tuesday, Macron thanked Hon Hai, also known globally as Foxconn Technology Group (富士康科技集團), for its investment projects announced at Choose France, a flagship economic summit held on Monday to attract foreign investment. In the post, Macron included a GIF displaying the national flag of the Republic of China (Taiwan), as he did for other foreign investors, including China-based
RSS