Taiwanese media reported today (October 19) that TSMC, the world's largest foundry (semiconductor contract manufacturing) company, plans to build an additional 3-nanometer (nm) fab in southern Taiwan.

According to the reports, TSMC Chairman C.C. Wei revealed the plan during an earnings conference for the third quarter on October 15, stating that the company is expanding its fab capacity to meet strong customer demand.

Wei explained that while it was customary in the past for TSMC not to expand production capacity once a process node reached its target, the company's internal assessment indicates that demand for 3nm will remain quite strong over the coming years. To further support customer capacity, TSMC plans to build an additional 3nm fab in Tainan and begin mass production in 2028.

Previously, Chairman Wei stated during an earnings conference in April for the first-year first quarter that due to artificial intelligence (AI) demand, TSMC planned to build 3nm fabs in Taiwan, the United States, and Japan starting next year.

With this latest announcement, TSMC's 3nm fab construction plan for the year has been revised to "3+1."

In response, the Economic Development Bureau of the Tainan City Government stated that it maintains smooth communication with TSMC and will support water, electricity, public infrastructure, and administrative procedures related to the fab construction.

It also noted that since TSMC entered the Southern Taiwan Science Park, its cumulative investment has reached 1.86 trillion New Taiwan dollars (approx. 76.5 trillion Korean won), creating 11,300 jobs.

According to data from the National Science and Technology Council (NSTC), revenue for the Tainan sector of the Southern Taiwan Science Park from January to August of this year reached 2.34 trillion New Taiwan dollars (approx. 96.3 trillion Korean won), an increase of 33.53% compared to the same period last year.

Meanwhile, Minister of Economic Affairs Kung Ming-hsin stated in a pre-recorded interview with Bloomberg published on October 16 that Taiwan plans to build its first industrial cluster in Texas, USA, and cooperate with the Taiwan Electrical and Electronic Manufacturers' Association to invest up to 4 billion dollars (approx. 5.3 trillion Korean won) to build a small and medium-sized supply chain.

Minister Kung emphasized that these supply chain companies are indispensable to the operations of AI server assembly firms, including TSMC and Taiwan's Foxconn, which are major production partners of AI semiconductor leader NVIDIA.


(Photo captured from Tainan City Government, Yonhap News)