Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) plans to build two new advanced chip packaging fabs in Chiayi County to address a supply scarcity driven by rapidly growing demand for artificial intelligence (AI) chips, Vice Premier Cheng Wen-tsan (鄭文燦) said yesterday in Chiayi County.
TSMC is set to start construction of the first advanced chip-on-wafer-on-substrate (CoWoS) packaging fab at the Chiayi section of the Southern Taiwan Science Park (南部科學園區) in May, Cheng said in Chiayi County.
Construction is expected to be completed in 2026, creating 3,000 jobs, he added.
Photo: CNA
Cheng made the announcement after meeting yesterday with TSMC vice president for operations and facility Arthur Chuang (莊子壽), Minister of Economic Affairs Wang Mei-hua (王美花) and several Chiayi County Government officials, nailing down the investment project.
TSMC and the Southern Taiwan Science Park earlier this month signed a lease for a 12-hectare plot of land, park director-general Su Chen-kang (蘇振綱) said yesterday.
Chiayi County Commissioner Weng Chang-liang (翁章梁) said the county is well-prepared to house TSMC’s new plants and believes the project would pave the way for attracting investments from companies in the supply chain and help it develop more high-value industries.
Earlier yesterday, Reuters reported that TSMC is considering building CoWoS technology capacity in Japan, where the chipmaker has opened a wafer fab in Kumamoto.
“In response to strong market demand for advanced packaging capacity, TSMC is planning to set up advanced packaging capacity in the Chiayi science park,” TSMC confirmed in e-mailed statement, ending months of speculation.
It did not provide financial details about the new investment.
CoWoS demand is “very strong,” TSMC chief executive C.C. Wei (魏哲家) told investors in January.
The world’s largest contract chipmaker counts Nvidia Corp and Advanced Micro Devices Inc among its major AI chip clients.
TSMC plans to double its CoWoS capacity this year from a year earlier, as booming generative AI applications stimulate demand for AI and high-performance computing chips, it said.
The company has been developing advanced packaging technologies for more than 10 years, including CoWoS, 3D chips and system of integrated chips (SoIC). It expects advanced packaging capacity to enjoy a compound annual growth rate of more than 50 percent in the next few years.
“TSMC’s latest CoWoS capacity expansion is crucial for the world and Taiwan, since 100 percent of the advanced AI chips consumed by the world is produced in Taiwan,” Wang said. “TSMC has received massive orders, but insufficient CoWoS capacity has hindered” shipments.
TSMC’s latest investment would help boost the local semiconductor ecosystem and assist local semiconductor equipment and material suppliers to build a greater presence in semiconductor backend processes, Wang said.
Additional reporting by CNA
Japan has deployed long-range missiles in a southwestern region near China, the Japanese defense minister said yesterday, at a time when ties with Beijing are at their lowest in recent years. The missiles were installed in Kumamoto in the southern region of Kyushu, as Japan is attempting to shore up its military capacity as China steps up naval activity in the East China Sea. “Standoff defense capabilities enable us to counter the threat of enemy forces attempting to invade our country ... while ensuring the safety of our personnel,” Japanese Minister of Defense Shinjiro Koizumi said. “This is an extremely important initiative for
MORE POPULAR: Taiwan Pass sales increased by 59 percent during the first quarter compared with the same period last year, the Tourism Administration said The Tourism Administration yesterday said that it has streamlined the Taiwan Pass, with two versions available for purchase beginning today. The tourism agency has made the pass available to international tourists since 2024, allowing them to access the high-speed rail, Taiwan Railway Corp services, four MRT systems and four Taiwan Tourist Shuttles. Previously, five types of Taiwan Pass were available, but some tourists have said that the offerings were too complicated. The agency said only two types of Taiwan Pass would be available, starting from a three-day pass with the high-speed rail and a three-day pass with Taiwan Railway Corp. The former costs NT$2,800
POLLS CONCERNS: There are concerns within the KMT that a Cheng Li-wun-Xi Jinping meeting could trigger a voter backlash in elections in November Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairwoman Cheng Li-wun (鄭麗文) accepted an invitation from Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) to visit next month, her party and Chinese state media reported yesterday. Cheng, who took up her role in November last year, “gladly accepted” the invitation to lead a delegation to China, the KMT said in a statement, confirming a Xinhua news agency report. Cheng “looks forward to joint efforts by both parties to advance the peaceful development of cross-strait relations, promote cross-strait exchanges and cooperation, and work for peace in the Taiwan Strait and greater well-being for people on both sides,” the statement said. Chinese
SIGNIFICANT TO THE WORLD: The delegation’s visit aims to send a clear message that bipartisan support for Taiwan is consistent, US Senator Jeanne Shaheen said The US Senate’s bipartisan support for Taiwan remains strong and Taiwan-US ties would continue for decades to come, a US Senate delegation said in Taipei yesterday, while calling on the legislature to swiftly pass a special defense budget bill. A US delegation led by Democratic US Senator Jeanne Shaheen and Republican US Senator John Curtis — both members of the US Senate Committee on Foreign Relations — arrived in Taiwan yesterday for a two-day visit. The other senators of the delegation included Senate Taiwan Caucus cochair Thom Tillis and Senate Committee on Armed Services senior member Jacky Rosen. Shaheen told a news
RSS