Taiwanese leading contract chipmaker TSMC recently announced that the company will set up a joint venture, called JASM (Japan Advanced Semiconductor Manufacturing), with Sony to build a new fab for US$7 billion in Japanese prefecture of Kumamoto, the Commercial Daily News reported on November 17. Upon completion, the new fab will churn out 12-inch wafers in 2022 using 22nm and 28 technology with a monthly capacity of 45,000 wafers by the end of 2024. Pursuant to the agreement, Sony will invest US$500 million to seize a stake of less than 20% in JASM while TSMC will spend US$2.12 billion and the Japanese government will provide financial support through 400 billion Yen (US$3.5 billion; US$1 = 114.1 Yen) subsidies. During the forecasted period 2021-2024, Taiwan’s leading research institute MIC (Market Intelligence & Consulting Institute) estimates Taiwan’s foundry industry will witness a CAGR (Compound Annual Growth Rate) of 10%, followed by IC design’s 7.9%, memory’s 7.5%, and IC packaging and testing’s 7.2%. Overall, the Taiwanese semiconductor industry will still perform better than the global average during 2021-2022. Global semiconductor market is estimated to grow 25.1% and 10.1% year-on-year in 2021 and 2022, reaching US$550.9 billion and US$606.5 billion, respectively, according to MIC.