TSMC Partners with Sony to Build New Semiconductor Plant in Japan... "Mass Production in 2024"

22~28nm Process... Japanese Government to Cover Up to Half of Investment
Produced Semiconductors to be 'Prioritized Supply' to Sony and Japanese Automobile Companies

The world's largest semiconductor foundry, Taiwan's TSMC, is building a new factory in Japan. Photo by Yonhap News

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Heeyoon] Taiwan's TSMC, the world's largest semiconductor foundry, is building a new factory in Japan.

According to the Nihon Keizai Shimbun (Nikkei) on the 14th, Wei Zhejia, CEO of TSMC, announced that construction of the new factory in Japan will begin in 2022, with mass production starting in 2024.

The new factory TSMC is building in Japan is expected to produce logic semiconductors using 22~28 nanometer technology. Although this technology is not an advanced fine process, it is sufficient for manufacturing automotive semiconductors such as image sensors and microcontroller units (MCUs).

Earlier, Nikkei reported in July that TSMC plans to build a new factory in Kumamoto, Japan, and the semiconductors produced there will be primarily supplied to Sony and Japanese automobile companies.

Japan, which currently lacks cutting-edge semiconductor factories, will establish a domestic semiconductor production base through TSMC's new factory construction.

TSMC is preparing to establish a factory operating company with majority investment. Sony is reportedly considering a minor investment.

TSMC, which has steadily increased its ties with Japan, also announced plans in June to establish a semiconductor technology development research center in Tsukuba City, Ibaraki Prefecture. The Japanese government announced it will support about 19 billion yen (approximately 193 billion KRW) of the total project cost of 37 billion yen. Previously, TSMC has cooperated with Japan in various ways, including joint semiconductor research with the University of Tokyo.

The total investment for this new factory construction is 800 billion yen (approximately 8.36 trillion KRW), and the Japanese government is expected to subsidize up to half of this amount.

The support budget is expected to be included in the 2021 supplementary budget bill, which will be compiled after the House of Representatives election on the 31st of this month. Nikkei evaluated that a subsidy of 400 billion yen for a single project is unprecedented.

Meanwhile, TSMC announced on the same day that it achieved sales of 414.67 billion Taiwan dollars (approximately 17.52 trillion KRW) and net profit of 156.26 billion Taiwan dollars (approximately 6.6 trillion KRW) in the third quarter of this year. Compared to the same period last year, sales increased by 16.3% and net profit by 13.8%. Compared to the previous second quarter, sales rose by 11.4% and net profit by 16.3%, marking the highest quarterly figures.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.