TSMCconsidered the world’s leading semiconductor manufacturer, is considering the opening of new semiconductor plants in Europe and Japan to expand its production capacity. This has been confirmed your CEOCC Weiduring the meeting with shareholders after the communication of the company’s results.
TSMC, which currently produces around 90% of the most advanced chips in the world, has already shown its intention to expand its production capacity in the United States, in addition to increasing the investment that it will allocate to it, with the raising of a second semiconductor factory in Arizona.
Regarding his plans in Europe, Wei has indicated that they are talking «with customers and partners to assess the possibility of building a specialized factory, focusing on specific automotive technologies, based on customer demand and level of government support«.
The company is also considering the possibility of building a second factory in Japan, «as long as customer demand, and the level of government support makes sense«.
TSMC’s plans come amid a situation marked by a drop in demand for chips, produced largely by a weakening of the global economy. As a result, according to Wei, in the first half of 2023 they expect their revenue to “fall between 5% and 9% compared to the same period last year, in US dollars«. Nonetheless, the TSMC CEO expects revenue to increase during the second half of the year. Furthermore, for all of 2023, they predict that “the semiconductor market, excluding memory, will fall approximately 4%«.
TSMC is one of the main companies in Taiwan, and is in charge of supplying chips to the main manufacturers of technological components and equipment. Among them, Apple and Qualcomm. It churns out some of the world’s most advanced semiconductors, and its chips are found in everything from cars to household appliances, including smartphones.
But the company’s expansion is not well liked in Taiwan, because they fear that under increased pressure from China, which considers Taiwan part of its territory, the company will take its most advanced technology outside, which would remove very valuable assets from Taiwan. Taiwan and reduce employment opportunities locally.
