Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) aims to build a second chipmaking plant in Arizona, after it committed to building a US$12 billion complex in the state, the Wall Street Journal reported, citing people familiar with the plans.
The world’s largest contract chipmaker would announce its intention to establish another facility north of Phoenix, adjacent to the factory under construction, the newspaper reported.
The new investment should be similar to the first project’s, it added.
Photo: Lam Yik Fei, Bloomberg
Representatives for the company did not respond to requests for comment.
The administration of US President Joe Biden is trying to attract investments in US chipmaking, part of efforts to counter China’s ambitions and secure components vital to US national security. That effort accelerated after widespread shortages that began in late 2020 and last year drove home how chips were central to the production of everything from vehicles to smartphones.
Washington, which is dangling incentives of about US$50 billion for local projects, has hailed TSMC’s Arizona expansion as a triumph in endeavors to bring advanced chipmaking to the US.
The Taiwanese company has said that it costs much more to produce semiconductors in the US, although higher expenses are manageable with state support.
TSMC, whose production sites are mostly in Taiwan, has started to diversify over the past few years to help meet demand in major countries seeking to bolster domestic semiconductor production. It joins rivals, including Samsung Electronics Co, which is establishing a US$17 billion fab in Texas.
TSMC is building a US$7 billion facility in Japan and is also in early talks with the German government about potentially establishing a plant in the country.
On Tuesday, TSMC’s board of directors approved a budget of US$5.71 billion, with the vast majority to be spent on production involving specialty and advanced manufacturing processes.
TSMC said advanced manufacturing processes would receive about 70 to 80 percent of the funding, while 10 to 20 percent would be spent on specialty processes, with the remaining about 10 percent earmarked for advanced packaging and testing, as well as photomasking development.
TSMC last month said it would cut its capital expenditure for this year to about US$36 billion from the lower end of a range from US$40 billion to US$44 billion in the previous capital spending plan, citing short-term market uncertainty.
The global semiconductor industry is undergoing inventory adjustments at a time when major central banks have raised key interest rates to fight fast-growing inflation, which has hurt demand.
Additional reporting by CNA
The DBS Foundation yesterday announced the launch of two flagship programs, “Silver Motion” and “Happier Caregiver, Healthier Seniors,” in partnership with CCILU Ltd, Hondao Senior Citizens’ Welfare Foundation and the Garden of Hope Foundation to help Taiwan face the challenges of a rapidly aging population. The foundation said it would invest S$4.91 million (US$3.8 million) over three years to foster inclusion and resilience in an aging society. “Aging may bring challenges, but it also brings opportunities. With many Asian markets rapidly becoming super-aged, the DBS Foundation is working with a regional ecosystem of like-minded partners across the private, public and people sectors
BREAKTHROUGH TECH: Powertech expects its fan-out PLP system to become mainstream, saying it can offer three-times greater production throughput Chip packaging service provider Powertech Technology Inc (力成科技) plans to more than double its capital expenditures next year to more than NT$40 billion (US$1.31 billion) as demand for its new panel-level packaging (PLP) technology, primarily used in chips for artificial intelligence (AI) applications, has greatly exceeded what it can supply. A significant portion of the budget, about US$1 billion, would be earmarked for fan-out PLP technology, Powertech told investors yesterday. Its heavy investment in fan-out PLP technology over the past 10 years is expected to bear fruit in 2027 after the technology enters volume production, it said, adding that the tech would
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) has secured three construction permits for its plan to build a state-of-the-art A14 wafer fab in Taichung, and is likely to start construction soon, the Central Taiwan Science Park Bureau said yesterday. Speaking with CNA, Wang Chun-chieh (王俊傑), deputy director general of the science park bureau, said the world’s largest contract chipmaker has received three construction permits — one to build a fab to roll out sophisticated chips, another to build a central utility plant to provide water and electricity for the facility and the other to build three office buildings. With the three permits, TSMC
YEAR-END BOOST: The holiday shopping season in the US and Europe, combined with rising demand for AI applications, is expected to drive exports to a new high, the NDC said Taiwan’s business climate monitor improved last month, transitioning from steady growth for the first time in five months, as robust global demand for artificial intelligence (AI) products and new iPhone shipments boosted exports and corporate sales, the National Development Council (NDC) said yesterday. The council uses a five-color system to measure the nation’s economic state, with “green” indicating steady growth, “red” suggesting a boom and “blue” reflecting a recession. “Yellow-red” and “yellow-blue” suggest a transition to a stronger or weaker condition. The total score of the monitor’s composite index rose to 35 points from a revised 31 in August, ending a four-month
RSS