Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) plans to make advanced 3-nanometer chips in Japan, stepping up its semiconductor manufacturing roadmap in the country in a triumph for Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi’s technology ambitions.
TSMC is to adopt cutting-edge technology for its second wafer fab in Kumamoto, company chairman C.C. Wei (魏哲家) said yesterday.
That is an upgrade from an original blueprint to produce 7-nanometer chips by late next year, people familiar with the matter said.
Photo: AFP
TSMC began mass production at its first plant in Japan’s Kumamoto in late 2024.
Its second fab, which is still under construction, was originally focused on manufacturing 6 to 12-nanometer chips, significantly less advanced than those announced yesterday.
The facility is scheduled to come online late next year.
To drive that expansion, TSMC plans to increase its overall investment in the Japanese plant to ￥2.6 trillion (US$17 billion), the Yomiuri Shimbun reported yesterday.
TSMC’s planned upgrade is likely to boost Takaichi’s goal to bolster domestic chipmaking.
Takaichi held up TSMC’s Kumamoto endeavor as a template for economic cooperation and said that a 3-nanometer fab shores up the global chip supply chain and Japan’s economic security.
“We want to strengthen our win-win partnership,” Takaichi said at the start of a meeting with Wei in Tokyo.
Wei in turn credited Tokyo for its endorsement and aid.
“Without your support this giga-fab project won’t be possible,” he told Takaichi, adding that he was a “firm supporter.”
He held up a copy of her book, Beautiful, Strong and Growing Nation: My Japan Economic Resilience Plan, and said: “You wrote a book five years ago, where you already talked about TSMC.”
The TSMC revelation coincides with a snap lower-house election this weekend that could reshape Japan’s political balance.
Takaichi — who has only been in the job for just more than three months — has set the election date for Sunday to capitalize on soaring public support to shore up her coalition government.
TSMC is accelerating a buildout around the world to meet a surge in demand for the high-end chips required to train and operate artificial intelligence (AI) services.
Taiwan also faces growing challenges when it comes to supplying resources, including land and electricity, while concerns persist about the concentration of advanced chip production in the nation.
Growing risk surrounding Taiwan likely contributed to the new plan, alongside faster-than-anticipated adoption of advanced technologies, Omdia analyst Akira Minamikawa said.
“This could lead to discussions about producing even more advanced nodes in Japan in the future,” he said.
Semiconductors made using 3-nanometer processes are used for AI robotics and data processing, Japanese Minister of Economy, Trade and Industry Ryosei Akazawa said, adding that Japan would work even closer with TSMC and deepen cooperation.
TSMC’s move to 3-nanometer chips is “fully aligned with the Takaichi administration’s strategy to advance the social implementation of AI in Japan,” he said.
While Taiwanese officials and TSMC have repeatedly pledged to keep its most-cutting-edge technology at home, the company intends to add capacity for more mature semiconductors overseas to alleviate resource constraints at home.
TSMC began mass production of 2-nanometer chips at its Kaohsiung factory last quarter.
“All TSMC’s decisions are based on customer needs, and their overseas expansion is not intended to replace Taiwan,” Executive Yuan spokeswoman Michelle Lee (李慧芝) said yesterday, citing Wei.
Additional reporting by CNA and AFP
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