TSMC and Sony (specifically, Sony Semiconductor Solution Company) officially enters into a partnership to build a fab in Japan worth $7 billion for mass production of chips. This will help meet supply shortfalls for older chips.The new plant will focus on older 22nm and 28nm chips rather than on previously announced cutting edge chips.
The new fab will commence production from 2024. This will help the cars and smartphones industry, which was badly impacted by the shortage.
The new factory announced last month by TSMC CEO, C.C. WEI, was yet to receive approval from TSMC’s board of directors until Tuesday. However, as per Neikki reports, TSMC board has now approved the new factory under a new subsidiary named Japan Advanced Semiconductor Manufacturing,Inc.
Sony’s semiconductor group will invest approximately $500 million in the new subsidiary for less than 20% share while the rest will be done by TSMC.
“While the global semiconductor shortage is expected to be prolonged, we expect partnership with TSMC to contribute to securing a stable supply of logic wafers, not only for us but also for the overall industry,” Sony Semiconductor Solutions CEO and president Terushi Shimizu said in a joint statement.
Taiwan will soon house a new fab as the TSMC board gives a nod. This new fab will focus on both advanced 7nm chips and old 28nm chips production. The construction of it will not begin until 2024 as reported in Nikkei.
With the expansion plan, the company has announced to invest $100 billion in 3 years. A $12 billion manufacturing hub in Arizona and a $7 billion new hub in Japan is part of it. This will help TSMC expand into new geographies.
