TSMC Expands to Japan

Taiwan's TSMC will open its latest chipmaking foundry on Japan's Kyushu island on February 24, but a plant in the United States will face further delays, the company said.

Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company -- which counts Apple and Nvidia as clients -- controls more than half the world's output of silicon wafers, used in everything from smartphones to cars and missiles.

In recent years, the company has had to navigate geopolitical tussles between the United States and China as the two face off over technology import restrictions, trade and Taiwan -- the primary manufacturing base for TSMC.

During an investors' call over fourth-quarter earnings, Chairman Mark Liu announced the official date of the long-awaited Japan foundry's opening ceremony would be February 24.

"In Japan, we are building a special technology fabrication plant in Kumamoto which will utilize 12- and 16-nanometre and 28- and 22-nanometre process technology," Liu said.

"We will hold an opening ceremony for this fab on February 24 next month and volume production is on track for the fourth quarter of 2024."

He added that TSMC's expansion overseas was "based on our customers' needs and a necessary level of government subsidies for support".

Japan's government said last year it plans to spend $13 billion to boost domestic production of strategically important semiconductors and generative AI technology.

Part of that spending would be to support the construction of a second TSMC plant in Kumamoto, a Japanese trade ministry official said in November.

The company also reported a 19.3 percent drop in net profits for the October-December period to $7.6 billion, while its revenues were "essentially flat".

TSMC had sought to quell investor fears in the past by pointing to the increasing demand for AI-related products, like ChatGPT, which needs high-performing silicon wafers to function.