Taiwan’s TSMC is considering building advanced packaging capacity in Japan, a move that would boost Japan’s efforts to restart its semiconductor industry, according to two sources familiar with the matter.
Negotiations are in the early stages, they added, declining to be identified because the information was not public.
One option the chip giant is considering is bringing its chip-on-wafer-on-substrate (CoWoS) packaging technology to Japan, according to one of the sources briefed on the matter.
CoWoS is a high-precision technology that involves stacking chips on top of each other, which increases computing power while saving space and reducing power consumption.
Currently, all of TSMC’s CoWoS capacity is in Taiwan.
No decisions have been made on the scope or timeline of the potential investment, the source said.
Also read: Meta investigated over illicit drug sales: report
TSMC, formally known as Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co, declined to comment.
Demand for advanced semiconductor packages has risen globally alongside the artificial intelligence boom, prompting chipmakers including TSMC, Samsung Electronics and Intel to ramp up capacity.
TSMC CEO C.C. Wei said in January that the company plans to double CoWos production this year, with another increase planned for 2025.
On Monday, TSMC said it was planning additional advanced packaging capacity in Chiayi, southern Taiwan, to respond to strong market demand, without giving details.
Construction of the new Chiayi CoWoS factory is expected to begin in early May, the island’s official Central News Agency quoted Vice Premier Cheng Wen-tsan as saying.
