TSMC revealed at a technical seminar on June 16 that by 2025, the production capacity of its mature and professional nodes will be expanded by about 50%. The plan includes the construction of a large number of new fabs in mainland China, Taiwan, and Japan. The move will further intensify competition between TSMC and chip foundries such as GlobalFoundries, UMC, and SMIC.
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The surge in demand for various computing and smart devices in recent years has sparked a global chip supply crisis, affecting automotive, consumer electronics, PCs, and numerous adjacent industries. Modern smartphones, smart appliances, and personal computers already use dozens of chips and sensors, and the number (and complexity) of these chips will only increase, TSMC said.
In addition, the smart car chip market is about to explode, with hundreds of chips already used in cars, and the number of chips per car is expected to reach around 1,500 in a few years. To this end, TSMC will invest in four new manufacturing facilities to increase mature/specialized capacity by 50% over the next three years:
- Fab 23 Phase 1 in Kumamoto, Japan
- Fab 14 Phase 8 in Tainan, Taiwan
- Fab 22 Phase 2 in Kaohsiung, Taiwan
- Fab 16 Phase 1B in Nanjing, Mainland China
TSMC also introduced information on future advanced processes at the 2022 technical seminar. The N3 process will be mass-produced in 2022, followed by N3E, N3P, N3X, etc., and the N2 (2nm) process will be mass production in 2025.
