TSMC's first fab in Kumamoto, Japan secures initial orders from Sony and Denso

The first Japanese wafer fab built by TSMC in Kumamoto will start mass production before the end of 2024, with its first batch of orders supplied to Sony and Denso.

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In a new report from the Commercial Times, we're learning that TSMC said on December 17 that the construction progress of its new Japanese fab is "still in progress" and that the previously announced mass production schedule remains unchanged.

Yuichi Horita, the president of TSMC's Japanese subsidiary -- Japan Advanced Semiconductor Manufacturing (JASM) said that the Kumamoto Factory 1 had entered the final preparation stage for mass production, emphasizing that TSMC's first production line in Japan "will be of the same quality as the Taiwanese factory".

TSMC's new Kumamoto plant in Japan held its opening ceremony on February 24 earlier this year, where at the opening ceremony, the company announced mass production before the end of 2024. It will be the first to supply logic chips to Sony and Denso, mostly making 22nm and 28nm chips, as well as 12nm and 16nm chips, with a monthly production capacity of 55,000 wafers.

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Kumamoto Factory 2 plans to kick off mass production by the end of 2027, moving down to the smaller 6nm and 7nm process nodes, with planning underway at the factory. Between both of the factories -- Kumamoto Factory 1 and Factory 2 -- total monthly production capacity is expected to hit 100,000 pieces.

The semiconductor industry in Japan has been lagging for a while now, with the logic chip technology still manufactured on the 40nm process, but after the huge waves of electric vehicles and AI accelerating the competition, the global semiconductor industry has lit a fire under the Japanese government, which is determined to revitalize their semiconductor manufacturing capabilities, funding and subsidizing TSMC to set up new factories in Japan.

JASM employs over 3400 people in Japan, and is expected to produce different types of products, including traditional wafers and advanced 6nm wafers. JASM will also help strengthen the Japanese semiconductor supply chain, with the goal of 60% of its parts coming from local sources in Japan by 2030.