Taiwan’s TSMC puts hopes in new Japan chip fab amid frustration with US plant in Arizona
- The chip maker prizes Japan’s network of chip equipment and materials suppliers, similarities in work culture and proximity to Taiwan
- In Arizona, a shortage of skilled workers has forced the company to push back production at its first fab by a year to 2025
TSMC, the world’s largest contract chip maker, is frustrated in Arizona, the sources said, where it has struggled to recruit workers for the gruelling chip-making trade and faced pushback from unions on efforts to bring in workers from Taiwan.
The company has growing confidence in Japan, where an US$8.6 billion fab under construction in a chipmaking hub on the island of Kyushu is on track to start producing mature-technology chips in 2024, the sources said.
Several chip industry sources spoke to Reuters about TSMC’s view of Japan and its global expansion on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the matter.
Successful expansion by TSMC in Japan could give a boost to efforts by the country to regain its lost status as a chip manufacturing powerhouse and support its automotive and electronics industries amid growing regional competition.
