The newly elected governor of Japan’s Kumamoto Prefecture said he is ready to ensure wide-ranging support to woo Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) to build its third Japanese chip factory there.
Concerns of groundwater shortages when TSMC’s two plants begin operations in the prefecture’s Kikuyo have spurred discussions about the possibility of tapping unused dam water, Kumamoto Governor Takashi Kimura said in an interview on Saturday.
While Kimura said talks about a third plant have yet to occur, Bloomberg had reported TSMC is already considering its third Japanese fab — also in Kumamoto — which would make more advanced chips.
Photo: Bloomberg
“We are prepared to give our full support,” said Kimura, who took office last month.
The 49-year-old former central government bureaucrat said he has proposed a visit to the chipmaker’s Taiwan headquarters this summer to discuss another plant.
Semiconductor plants typically use thousands of cubic meters of groundwater per day. TSMC’s Japanese unit has pledged to reduce water consumption, recycle more water and make efforts to replenish more water than it uses.
TSMC opened its first factory in Japan in February, putting it on track to begin mass production later this year. Construction of TSMC’s second plant, which would also receive government subsidies, is scheduled to begin by the end of this year.
The two plants together are expected to employ more than 3,400 people, and have already propelled a surge in land prices and infrastructure investment. They are expected to contribute about ￥10.5 trillion (US$67.4 billion) to the economy of the broader prefecture over 10 years, according to the Kyushu Economic Research Center.
Talks during the construction of the first factory have equipped Kumamoto Prefecture with better road and water infrastructure and an education system that better supports international school students, Kimura said.
The governor said he hopes enough semiconductor-related companies and research institutions would settle in Kumamoto to create something akin to Hsinchu Science Park (新竹科學園區).
“We want to make Kumamoto a birthplace for a myriad of industries originating from semiconductors, such as AI [artificial intelligence], data centers and self-driving,” he said.
Semiconductors are essential for reducing energy consumption, Kimura said. “They’re necessary for the future of the planet.”
BYPASSING CHINA TARIFFS: In the first five months of this year, Foxconn sent US$4.4bn of iPhones to the US from India, compared with US$3.7bn in the whole of last year Nearly all the iPhones exported by Foxconn Technology Group (富士康科技集團) from India went to the US between March and last month, customs data showed, far above last year’s average of 50 percent and a clear sign of Apple Inc’s efforts to bypass high US tariffs imposed on China. The numbers, being reported by Reuters for the first time, show that Apple has realigned its India exports to almost exclusively serve the US market, when previously the devices were more widely distributed to nations including the Netherlands and the Czech Republic. During March to last month, Foxconn, known as Hon Hai Precision Industry
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) and the University of Tokyo (UTokyo) yesterday announced the launch of the TSMC-UTokyo Lab to promote advanced semiconductor research, education and talent development. The lab is TSMC’s first laboratory collaboration with a university outside Taiwan, the company said in a statement. The lab would leverage “the extensive knowledge, experience, and creativity” of both institutions, the company said. It is located in the Asano Section of UTokyo’s Hongo, Tokyo, campus and would be managed by UTokyo faculty, guided by directors from UTokyo and TSMC, the company said. TSMC began working with UTokyo in 2019, resulting in 21 research projects,
Taiwan’s property market is entering a freeze, with mortgage activity across the nation’s six largest cities plummeting in the first quarter, H&B Realty Co (住商不動產) said yesterday, citing mounting pressure on housing demand amid tighter lending rules and regulatory curbs. Mortgage applications in Taipei, New Taipei City, Taoyuan, Taichung, Tainan and Kaohsiung totaled 28,078 from January to March, a sharp 36.3 percent decline from 44,082 in the same period last year, the nation’s largest real-estate brokerage by franchise said, citing data from the Joint Credit Information Center (JCIC, 聯徵中心). “The simultaneous decline across all six cities reflects just how drastically the market
Ashton Hall’s morning routine involves dunking his head in iced Saratoga Spring Water. For the company that sells the bottled water — Hall’s brand of choice for drinking, brushing his teeth and submerging himself — that is fantastic news. “We’re so thankful to this incredible fitness influencer called Ashton Hall,” Saratoga owner Primo Brands Corp’s CEO Robbert Rietbroek said on an earnings call after Hall’s morning routine video went viral. “He really helped put our brand on the map.” Primo Brands, which was not affiliated with Hall when he made his video, is among the increasing number of companies benefiting from influencer
RSS