Taiwanese TSMC recently announced that the company’s new fab will begin construction this April, the Commercial Daily News reported on March 10. On top of that, Denso reportedly will make an addition investment of US$350 million to acquire 10% stake in the TSMC-Sony joint venture, named JASM (Japan Advanced Semiconductor Manufacturing). With the joining of Denso, the total capital expenditure for JASM’s Kumamoto fab is estimated at US$8.6 billion In addition to production lines for 22 and 28nm chips, In addition, TSMC is set to add additional lines for 12 and 16nm processes. The joint venture is now owned by TSMC, Sony, Denso, and Japanese government, with Sony holding less than 20% stake. Following the upgrades, the monthly production capacity of the fab is estimated to increase from 45,000 to 55,000 12-inch wafers by the end of 2024.
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.