TSMC to build chip factory in Japan with Sony support

TSMC to build a chip factory in Japan. The Taiwanese company does this with the support of Sony, which will have a 20 percent minority stake in the factory. The factory is set up as a subsidiary of Japan Advanced Semiconductor Manufacturing.

JASM is a collaboration of TSMC and Sony Semiconductor Solutions, the Sony business unit that makes chips and sensors. Construction of the fab will start in 2022 and production should start at the end of 2024. Initially, the chip factory will be used for production on 22nm and 28nm nodes.

The plant is expected to cost $7 billion to build. Sony will invest about half a billion dollars and will receive a 20 percent stake in JASM in return. The companies also expect “strong support” from the Japanese government.

According to the parties, the new fab will be built to meet the worldwide high demand for chips. When the site is operational, 45,000 wafers of the 300mm format will be produced every month. Sony is the world’s largest manufacturer of camera sensors and a major customer of TSMC, but the new fab will also supply chips to other companies.

TSMC currently has chip plants in Taiwan and China, and subsidiary fabs in Singapore and the United States. The company has had an office in Japan since 1997, but no chip factory yet. Last month, plans for a Japanese chip factory were already confirmed; now the financial details have also been disclosed.