Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) yesterday inaugurated its new global research-and-development (R&D) center in Hsinchu to further its development of next-generation technologies, including 2-nanometer and beyond, as the world’s biggest contract chipmaker seeks to safeguard its global technology leadership.
The launch of the R&D hub demonstrates the chipmaker’s long-term commitment to investing in Taiwan and its determination to keep its roots at home, TSMC chief executive officer C.C. Wei (魏哲家) said in a speech at the inauguration.
Wei made the remarks amid concern about TSMC’s acceleration in expanding its global manufacturing footprint to the US and Japan in recent years.
Photo: Ann Wang, Reuters
The chipmaker is also considering building a fab in Germany to produce 28-nanometer chips used in vehicles in collaboration with its customers.
While TSMC’s overseas investments have sparked worries that the company might halt its development in Taiwan, Wei said that is not the case.
TSMC is expanding its overseas capacity with an aim to meet its customers’ needs, he said.
Photo: AFP / TSMC
The company expects the new R&D center to house more than 7,000 R&D engineers at full capacity by September, up from 2,200 people currently, it said.
“With the launch of the new global R&D center, TSMC will be more proactive in developing world-leading semiconductor technologies from 2-nanometer technology, 1.4-nanometer technology and smaller technologies,” TSMC chairman Mark Liu (劉德音) said.
The company said that its 2-nanometer technology would be the world’s most advanced when it is introduced in 2025, duplicating its success in bringing its 3-nanometer technology to market ahead of its competitors.
Counting Apple Inc and Nvidia Corp among its major customers, TSMC commands about a 60 percent share of the global semiconductor market.
The chipmaker said continuous investment in leading-edge technologies is the key to safeguarding its technological leadership. Last year, TSMC spent 30 percent more on R&D, totaling US$5.47 billion, compared with US$4.47 billion in 2021.
Since the company’s inception more than 30 years ago, TSMC has been determined to build its own technology, TSMC founder Morris Chang (張忠謀) said yesterday.
It was a long road for TSMC to fulfill that goal and become a global semiconductor technology leader, he said, adding that the company secured its technological leadership only after it introduced its 7-nanometer technology.
For more than 20 years, TSMC has heavily invested in R&D efforts by allocating 8 percent of its total revenue to it, Chang said.
Last year, TSMC’s R&D spending greatly surpassed the US$2 billion spent by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, he said.
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