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.
NEXT GENERATION: The four plants in the Central Taiwan Science Park, designated Fab 25, would consist of four 1.4-nanometer wafer manufacturing plants, TSMC said Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) plans to begin construction of four new plants later this year, with the aim to officially launch production of 2-nanometer semiconductor wafers by late 2028, Central Taiwan Science Park Bureau director-general Hsu Maw-shin (許茂新) said. Hsu made the announcement at an event on Friday evening celebrating the Central Taiwan Science Park’s 22nd anniversary. The second phase of the park’s expansion would commence with the initial construction of water detention ponds and other structures aimed at soil and water conservation, Hsu said. TSMC has officially leased the land, with the Central Taiwan Science Park having handed over the
AUKUS: The Australian Ambassador to the US said his country is working with the Pentagon and he is confident that submarine issues will be resolved Australian Ambassador to the US Kevin Rudd on Friday said that if Taiwan were to fall to China’s occupation, it would unleash China’s military capacities and capabilities more broadly. He also said his country is working with the Pentagon on the US Department of Defense’s review of the AUKUS submarine project and is confident that all issues raised will be resolved. Rudd, who served as Australian prime minister from 2007 to 2010 and for three months in 2013, made the remarks at the Aspen Security Forum in Colorado and stressed the longstanding US-Australia alliance and his close relationship with the US Undersecretary
‘WORLD WAR III’: Republican Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene said the aid would inflame tensions, but her amendment was rejected 421 votes against six The US House of Representatives on Friday passed the Department of Defense Appropriations Act for fiscal 2026, which includes US$500 million for Taiwan. The bill, which totals US$831.5 billion in discretionary spending, passed in a 221-209 vote. According to the bill, the funds for Taiwan would be administered by the US Defense Security Cooperation Agency and would remain available through Sept. 30, 2027, for the Taiwan Security Cooperation Initiative. The legislation authorizes the US Secretary of Defense, with the agreement of the US Secretary of State, to use the funds to assist Taiwan in procuring defense articles and services, and military training. Republican Representative
TAIWAN IS TAIWAN: US Representative Tom Tiffany said the amendment was not controversial, as ‘Taiwan is not — nor has it ever been — part of Communist China’ The US House of Representatives on Friday passed an amendment banning the US Department of Defense from creating, buying or displaying any map that shows Taiwan as part of the People’s Republic of China (PRC). The “Honest Maps” amendment was approved in a voice vote on Friday as part of the Department of Defense Appropriations Act for the 2026 fiscal year. The amendment prohibits using any funds from the act to create, buy or display maps that show Taiwan, Kinmen, Matsu, Penghu, Wuciou (烏坵), Green Island (綠島) or Orchid Island (Lanyu, 蘭嶼) as part of the PRC. The act includes US$831.5 billion in
RSS