TSMC to launch chipmaking plant in Japan, but US plant to face delays

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TAIPEI – Taiwan’s TSMC will open its latest chipmaking foundry on Japan’s Kyushu island on February 24, but a plant in the United States will face further delays, the company said. 
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company — which counts Apple and Nvidia as clients — controls more than half the world’s output of silicon wafers, used in everything from smartphones to cars and missiles.
In recent years, the company has had to navigate geopolitical tussles between the United States and China as the two face off over technology import restrictions, trade and Taiwan — the primary manufacturing base for TSMC.
During an investors’ call over fourth-quarter earnings, Chairman Mark Liu announced the official date of the long-awaited Japan foundry’s opening ceremony would be February 24. 
“In Japan, we are building a special technology fab(rication plant) in Kumamoto which will utilise 12- and 16-nanometre and 28- and 22-nanometre process technology,” Liu said.
“We will hold an opening ceremony for this fab on February 24 next month and volume production is on track for fourth quarter of 2024.”
He added that TSMC’s expansion overseas was “based on our customers’ needs and a necessary level of government subsidies for support”. 
“In today’s fractured globalisation environment, our strategy is to expand our global manufacturing footprint to increase our customers’ trust, expand our future growth potential, and reach for more global talents,” Liu said. 
Japan’s government said last year it plans to spend $13-billion to boost domestic production of strategically important semiconductors and generative AI technology. 
Part of that spending would be to support the construction of a second TSMC plant in Kumamoto, a Japanese trade ministry official said in November.