Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) is to start building a new 1.4-nanometer fab next quarter with an anticipated production value of up to NT$500 billion (US$16.49 billion), the Central Taiwan Science Park Bureau said yesterday.
TSMC, the world’s biggest contract chipmaker, is working at full steam to push forward the construction of its new factories at home, rather than taking a slower approach as some media speculated, bureau Director-General Hsu Maw-shin (許茂新) said.
“Everything is on schedule. TSMC plans to start construction in the fourth quarter. It is planning a detailed construction schedule and arranging contractors to build the fab,” Hsu said.
Photo: CNA
Since TSMC is to utilize more advanced process technology than the 2-nanometer technology as originally planned, the new fab is expected to generate a production value of NT$500 billion, higher than an earlier estimate of NT$485.7 billion, Hsu said.
The fab is to create about 4,500 jobs, he added.
TSMC in May said it expected to start building a new fab, called Fab 25, in Taichung, with an aim of producing advanced chips in 2028 utilizing 1.4-nanometer technology, the most advanced technology.
The chipmaker plans to start volume production of 2-nanometer chips next quarter at fabs in Hsinchu and Kaohsiung, and produce 1.6-nanometer chips in the second half of next year at fabs in Kaohsiung amid robust demand for artificial intelligence and high-performance computing.
TSMC is also expected to build an advanced technology facility in Tainan’s Shalun District (沙崙), Southern Taiwan Science Park Bureau Director-General Cheng Hsiu-jung (鄭秀絨) said.
The chipmaker’s capacity expansions for advanced packaging technology in the Southern Taiwan Science Park’s (南部科學園區) campus in Chiayi County’s Taibao City (太保) are at full swing, Cheng said, refuting media reports about a sudden halt.
The company is even trying to pull ahead of the construction schedule, she added.
Separately, companies based in the nation’s three major science parks are expected to generate record-high revenue of NT$5.5 trillion this year, National Science and Technology Council Minister Wu Cheng-wen (吳誠文) said at a news conference yesterday.
That would represent annual growth of 15.5 percent from NT$4.76 trillion last year.
Wu attributed the double-digit growth to the semiconductor industry’s strong growth momentum.
During the first half of this year, semiconductor companies in the science parks have seen revenue soar 34.33 percent annually to NT$2.27 trillion, council data showed.
Semiconductor companies were the major revenue contributors, making up 83 percent of the overall revenue of NT$2.74 trillion made by companies in the science parks during the first half.
Producers of computers and related components saw revenue sink 28.58 percent year-on-year to NT$89.93 billion in the first half, as some firms allocated production overseas in a bid to address geopolitical tensions and US tariffs, the council said.
The EU and US are nearing an agreement to coordinate on producing and securing critical minerals, part of a push to break reliance on Chinese supplies. The potential deal would create incentives, such as minimum prices, that could advantage non-Chinese suppliers, according to a draft of an “action plan” seen by Bloomberg. The EU and US would also cooperate on standards, investments and joint projects, as well as coordinate on any supply disruptions by countries like China. The two sides are additionally seeking other “like-minded partners” to join a multicountry accord to help create these new critical mineral supply chains, which feed into
Elon Musk’s lieutenants have reached out to chip industry suppliers, including Applied Materials Inc, Tokyo Electron Ltd and Lam Research Corp, for his envisioned Terafab, early steps in an audacious and likely arduous attempt to break into the production of cutting-edge chips. Staff working for the joint venture between Tesla Inc and Space Exploration Technologies Corp (SpaceX) have sought price quotes and delivery times for an array of chipmaking gear, people familiar with the matter said. In past weeks, they’ve contacted makers of photomasks, substrates, etchers, depositors, cleaning devices, testers and other tools, according to the people, who asked not to
Japan approved ￥631.5 billion (US$3.97 billion) in additional subsidies to hasten Rapidus Corp’s entry into the high-stakes artificial intelligence (AI) chipmaking arena, ramping up support for a project widely regarded as a long shot. The capital is intended to bankroll Rapidus’ work for information technology firm Fujitsu Ltd, one of the initial customers that Tokyo hopes would get the signature endeavor off the ground. The new money raises the fees and investments that the government is injecting into the start-up to ￥2.6 trillion by the end of the current fiscal year to March next year, the Japanese Ministry of Economy, Trade and
The founder of Chinese property giant Evergrande Group (恆大集團) has pleaded guilty to charges of fraud and bribery, a court said yesterday, the latest blow for what was once the country’s leading developer. Evergrande’s rise was propelled by decades of rapid urbanization and rising living standards, but in 2020, its access to credit dramatically narrowed when the government introduced curbs on excessive borrowing and speculation. The company defaulted in 2021 after struggling to repay creditors. Founder Xu Jiayin (許家印), 67, known as Hui Ka Yan in Cantonese, was reportedly held by police in 2023, with Evergrande saying he had been subjected to
RSS