Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) is expected to move in the first piece of manufacturing equipment for its first 2-nanometer fab in April, paving the way for the world’s biggest contract chipmaker to start producing 2-nanometer chips in 2025, Hsinchu Science Park (新竹科學園區) Bureau director-general Wayne Wang (王永壯) yesterday said.
TSMC’s 2-nanometer fab is in Hsinchu County’s Baoshan Township (寶山), where the science park administration is working on a second-phase development program, after it completes its first-phase program, where it houses TSMC’s new research and development center, Wang said during a ceremony celebrating the science park’s 43rd anniversary.
The infrastructure construction is proceeding smoothly, he said.
Photo: Reuters, Ann Wang
TSMC’s new 2-nanometer fab construction progress, as Wang described it, indicates that TSMC might be on track to start engineering a pilot run for its 2-nanometer technology next year, before entering a production pilot run and volume production in 2025. The chipmaker said in May that it planned to start building a second 2-nanometer fab next year in Taichung.
However, Taichung Mayor Lu Shiow-yen (盧秀燕) told reporters earlier this week that TSMC could change its mind and consider building a more advanced 1.4-nanometer fab in Taichung, as the chipmaker suffered a setback in securing land to build a 1.4-nanometer fab in the Longtan (龍潭) section of Hsinchu Science Park, amid local protests over government appropriation of privately owned land for industrial use.
TSMC did not comment on whether it has altered its new fab construction plan in Taichung.
Photo: CNA
Separately, Wang told reporters that the production value of manufacturers in Hsinchu Science Park is set to recover to its peak level starting from next year, following a tough period this year when an economic slowdown and geopolitical tensions cut production value by 19 percent annually in the first half of this year to NT$668.4 billion (US$21.38 billion).
As demand returns, the decline has shrunk to about 10 percent, Wang said. He expects the recovery to extend into 2025, fueling explosive growth in production value to a new record high from companies in the park.
Additionally, the science park bureau said that the third building of the biological technology district within the science park would be completed in the second quarter of next year. It cost more than NT$3 billion, it said.
In addition, the first building of the “X” base is to be completed in the near future, Wang said.
The “X” base is designed to be a hub for the development of emerging technologies such as precision healthcare and generative artificial intelligence.
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