TSMC building second fab in Japan, with 6nm and 7nm nodes coming to Japan production

Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC) has just announced plans to build a second fab in Japan, which will be run by Japan Advanced Semiconductor Manufacturing (JASM) which is a majority-owned TSMC subsidiary.

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The new fab in Japan will build 6nm and 7nm-class process nodes, which when TSMC's new facility is operational in Japan, will make it the most advanced semiconductor production facility for logic chips in Japan. TSMC expects its new Japan-based fab to begin operation this year, with plans to begin operation by the end of the 2027 calendar year.

TSMC's production of 6nm and 7nm chips from its second fab in Japan will make chips for automotive, industrial, consumer, and HPC-related applications. It's expected that over 3400 high-tech professional jobs will be created from this new deal, that's expected to exceed $20 billion with "strong support from the Japanese government".

The deal is between TSMC, Sony Semiconductor Solutions (SSS), DENSO Corporation (DENSO), and Toyota Motor Corporation and its further investment into Japan Advanced Semiconductor Manufacturing (JASM), with TSMC's majority-owned manufacturing subsidiary in Kumamoto Prefecture, Japan for this second fab.

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TSMC explained in its press release: "In response to rising customer demand, JASM plans to commence construction of its second fab by the end of 2024. The increased production scale is also expected to improve overall cost structure and supply chain efficiency for JASM. With both fabs, JASM's Kumamoto site is expected to 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 for automotive, industrial, consumer and HPC-related applications. The capacity plan may be further adjusted based upon customer demand. With both fabs, the Kumamoto site is expected to directly create more than 3,400 high-tech professional jobs".