Japan hopes that TSMC and Sony will work together to build 20 nanometre chip plant
At this stage, the tight supply in the semiconductor industry is a well-known thing, and major chip manufacturers are desperately expanding their production capacity. This is not an easy task. The construction of a plant requires a huge investment, as well as various risk factors in the future. For countries and regions that have chip requirements but lack chip plants, if relevant companies want to build chip plants in their own regions, there are many issues that need to be coordinated.
According to Reuters, Japanese authorities recommend that Sony and Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. (TSMC) jointly invest about $9.2 billion to build a wafer fab that will use 20nm-40nm process technology to produce chips. Japan used to have a place in the field of chip manufacturing, and it also had the leading level of semiconductor technology at the time, but with the passage of time, it no longer has the manufacturing capacity of advanced technology and lacks production capacity.
As one of the world’s major manufacturing countries, Japan has a large demand for chips in the fields of automobiles, home appliances, and consumer electronics, but they generally place orders for production from foundries such as TSMC or UMC.
TSMC’s 20nm process is not the main process node, and it is not particularly popular with customers. Generally, customers prefer to use 16nm or 12nm processes. Although it is not an advanced process, the 20nm-40nm process is sufficient for Japan’s main manufacturing industry, and with more local production capacity, it can be said to be very meaningful. If the plan can be implemented, it will be an ideal solution to the problem of chip supply in the Japanese manufacturing industry. The Japanese government may also, like other countries and regions, increase its attractiveness through fiscal subsidies, tax reductions, and free land supply in order to persuade TSMC.
TSMC previously announced that it will establish a research and development center near Tokyo, which has sparked speculation about building a plant in Japan. In the past, TSMC has also cooperated with other manufacturers to jointly invest in wafer fabs. It remains to be seen whether it is interested in cooperating with Sony this time.
