Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company Limited (TSMC) announced it will build a second fab inside the Japan Advanced Semiconductor Manufacturing, Inc. (JASM). Other shareholders in the TSMC majority-owned JASM are Sony Semiconductor Solutions Corporation, DENSO Corporation, and Toyota Motor Corporation (Toyota).

Accordingly, the second fab of JASM, which operates in Japan’s Kumamoto prefecture, will likely begin operation by the end of 2027.

Together with JASM’s first fab, the operation of which will begin in 2024, the overall investment in JASM will exceed US$20 billion. Moreover, it will have strong support from the Japanese government.

In response to rising customer demand, JASM plans to commence construction of its second fab by the end of 2024. Thus, the increased production scale will aim to improve overall cost structure and supply chain efficiency for JASM.

Investments to Exceed US20 Billion

With both fabs, JASM’s Kumamoto site will likely offer a total production capacity of more than 100,000 12-inch wafers per month starting from 40, 22/28, 12/16 and 6/7 nanometer process technologies. Particularly, it will cater automotive, industrial, consumer, and HPC-related applications.

Meanwhile, the capacity plan may be further adjusted based upon customer demand. With both fabs, the Kumamoto site will directly create more than 3,400 high-tech professional jobs.

With this investment, TSMC’s share will hold 86.5 percent stake. On the other hand, SSS will have 6 percent while Denso takes 5.5 percent stake. Meanwhile, Toyota will take the remaining 2 percent stake in JASM.

The closing of the transaction among JASM, TSMC, SSS, DENSO and Toyota are subject to customary closing conditions.

TSMC and SSS started setting up JASM in 2021, which will initially produce 22nm and 28nm processes. Accordingly, the alliance targets the new foundry service, which will rise in Japan’s Kumamoto, to address strong global market demand for specialty technologies. SSS will participate as minority shareholder.

TSMC’s Japan fab is the latest chapter in its long history of contribution to Japan’s semiconductor ecosystem since establishing its TSMC Japan subsidiary in 1997. Earlier, TSMC set up the Japan Design Center to serve its global customers. It is now working with Japanese partners to expand the frontiers of advanced packaging technology with the 3DIC Research Center in Ibaraki Prefecture.

Moreover, TSMC pioneered the pure-play foundry business model in 1987 and has been the world’s leading dedicated semiconductor foundry. The company supports a thriving ecosystem of global customers and partners with the industry’s leading process technologies and portfolio of design enablement solutions to unleash innovation for the global semiconductor industry.

With global operations spanning Asia, Europe, and North America, TSMC serves as a committed corporate citizen around the world.