Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) plans to mass produce advanced 3-nanometer chips in Kumamoto in southern Japan with an investment of US$17 billion, Japanese newspaper the Yomiuri Shimbun reported today.
Japan's government, which has subsidized Taiwan's leading chipmaker to build out capacity in Kyushu, is considering additional support for the new investment plan, the Yomiuri reported.
TSMC had aimed to invest US$12.2 billion on 6-nanometer to 12-nanometer chipmaking capacity at its second fab in Kyushu, but would discuss changes to the plan with Japan's government, the Yomiuri reported.
Photo: Reuters
TSMC executives were to visit the Japanese prime minister's office today.
The company did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
TSMC said on an earnings call last month that the construction of its second fab in Japan had started, and "the technologies and ramp schedule will be based on our customers' need and market conditions."
TSMC makes its 3-nanometer chips in Taiwan, and plans to begin producing them at its second fab in Arizona in 2027.
Japan is also heavily subsidizing homegrown foundry venture Rapidus Corp, which aims to produce cutting-edge chips on the northern island of Hokkaido.
The government has determined that the two companies' chips would have different uses and would not be in competition, the Yomiuri reported.
Securing access to chips, which are critical for electronics, automotive and defense industries, has become a priority for governments around the world.
Cairo’s new monorail slices across the city skyline, running above the familiar chaos of blaring horns and aging buses’ exhaust fumes that mark rush hour below. The US$4.5 billion monorail, opened this month, is among Egypt’s most prominent new transport projects, part of a debt-funded infrastructure drive criticized for sapping state finances while bringing limited benefits to most of the country’s 109 million people. “It feels like you’re in a different country,” said Ramy Sayed, a restaurant manager, aboard a driverless Innovia 300 train. “No noise, no traffic, we’re not used to this.” The eastern line runs 56km from the bustling middle-class
Taiwanese firms have increased investment in the Philippines in recent years as Manila’s ties with Washington deepen and global supply chains continue to shift away from China, an expert at the Chung-Hua Institution for Economic Research (CIER, 中華經濟研究院) said yesterday. The Philippines had not been among Taiwanese investors’ top choices in Southeast Asia, CIER Taiwan ASEAN Studies Center director Kristy Hsu (徐遵慈) said at a seminar in Taipei. However, Taiwan’s investment in the country has grown significantly since the COVID-19 pandemic, reaching US $257 million last year, a high in recent years, she said. Although Taiwan’s total investment in the Philippines still lags
Intel Corp regards Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) as a longstanding partner, as the US chipmaker would continue outsourcing production of advanced chips to TSMC, Intel chief executive officer Lip-Bu Tan (陳立武) said yesterday. “I don’t look at people as competitors. I look at the collaboration... Nvidia is also, you know, a good friend,” Tan told a news conference following his keynote speech at the Computex trade show in Taipei. “It’s a very trusted partnership for us... We are a big, top customer for them, and we’re going to continue doing that,” he said, referring to TSMC, the world’s largest foundry
Artificial intelligence (AI) agents would supplant smartphones as the center of people’s digital lives, fundamentally reshaping personal devices and driving a major computing upgrade cycle, Qualcomm Inc CEO Cristiano Amon said yesterday. In his keynote speech for this year’s Computex trade show in Taipei, Amon said that the rise of "agentic AI" — AI systems capable of reasoning, planning and carrying out tasks autonomously — would transform how people interact with technology across phones, PCs, vehicles and wearable devices. Describing the technology as the next major evolution in computing, Amon said that "2026 is the year of agents.” For decades, smartphones have sat
RSS