Chip shortages have been affecting the manufacture of dozens of consumer goods, from cars to smartphones. The need isn’t expected to be filled for some time, prompting some companies to make new plans. TSMC and Sony were reported to be in talks to partner on a new chip plant to be built in Japan, and now we know most of this information was accurate.
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TSMC is indeed planning a new chip factory to be built not in Japan but Taiwan. The city of Kaohsiung will be the place TSMC will make this new chip factory, and Sony indeed backs it. Sony is investing $$500 million, and construction is planned for next year, with production set for 2024.
Construction of the factory, which local media said last month would supply semiconductors to Sony’s image sensor business, will begin in 2022, with production slated to begin at the end of 2024, the companies said in a press release.
The decision marks a success for Japanese industry ministry officials, who want world No.1 contract chipmaker TSMC to build plants to supply chips to Japan’s electronic device makers and auto companies as trade frictions between the United States and China threaten to disrupt supply chains and demand for the key component grows.
“The fab (plant) is expected to directly create about 1,500 high-tech professional jobs and to have a monthly production capacity of 45,000 12-inch wafers,” Sony and TSMC said.
TSMC has pledged to spend $100 billion over the next three years to expand chip capacity and is building a $12 billion chip fabrication plant in the U.S. state of Arizona.
Reuters
While this does nothing for the current chip shortage, it should help to have a chip supplier outside of China in the long run.
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