Taiwanese semiconductor foundry corporations TSMC reportedly plans to expand its 2-nanometer (nm; 1 nm = one-billionth of a meter) factories from seven to 10.
Citing sources, Taiwanese outlet Liberty Times reported on the 25th that TSMC, at recent meetings with government agencies including the National Science and Technology Council (NSTC), shared plans to build three additional 2-nm factories in Taiwan to respond to surging demand for artificial intelligence (AI) chips.
TSMC is said to be reviewing a plan to locate the additional 2-nm factories in the Southern Taiwan Science Park currently being pursued by Tainan. Liberty Times reported that an estimated NT$900 billion (about 4.21 trillion won) will be invested to establish the factories.
Quoting another source, Liberty Times said the site under review for the new factory spans 40 hectares (ha; 1 ha is 10,000 square meters) and could break ground as early as next year. The source also said TSMC already began mass production of 2-nm process products this quarter. Analysts say TSMC's move to expand production facilities in Taiwan also aims to quell concerns about a decline in domestic competitiveness that arose from its recent $165 billion (about 242 trillion won) investment in the United States.
Earlier, TSMC Chair Wei Zhejia said of 2-nm demand that it was "beyond imagination," and noted the company is actively preparing to expand production facilities to meet customer demand. TSMC held its third-quarter earnings briefing last month and said it plans to set this year's capital expenditure (facility investment) at $40 billion–$42 billion (about 58.9 trillion–61.8 trillion won) to respond to AI demand.
TSMC Chief Financial Officer (CFO) Huang Renzhao said about 70% of this year's capital expenditure will go to advanced process technologies, 10%–20% to specialty process technologies, and 10% to advanced packaging tests, photomasks, and other projects.