According to media reports, two insiders revealed that TSMC is considering building advanced packaging capacity in Japan, which will add momentum to Japan’s restart of its semiconductor manufacturing business. They added that the review process is still in its early stages, but due to the information not being made public, they refused to disclose their names.
According to a source familiar with the situation, TSMC is considering introducing its wafer based chip (CoWoS) packaging technology to Japan as an option.
CoWoS is a high-precision technology that involves stacking chips together to improve processing power, while saving space and reducing power consumption. Currently, TSMC’s CoWoS production capacity is entirely located in Taiwan.
Sources say that TSMC has not yet made a decision on the scale or timeline of potential investments.
With the booming development of artificial intelligence, the global demand for advanced semiconductor packaging has surged, stimulating chip manufacturers such as TSMC, Samsung Electronics, and Intel to increase production capacity.
TSMC CEO Wei Zhejia stated in January that the company plans to double CoWos production this year and plans to further increase in 2025.
TSMC has just built a factory in Japan and announced another factory – all located in the southern part of Kyushu Island, the chip manufacturing center in Japan.
TSMC is collaborating with companies such as Sony and Toyota, and the total investment of the Japanese joint venture is expected to exceed $20 billion (note: currently approximately RMB 144 billion). TSMC also established an advanced packaging research and development center in Ibaraki Prefecture, northeast Tokyo in 2021.
However, TrendForce analyst Joanne Chiao stated that if TSMC establishes advanced packaging capacity in Japan, it is expected that the scale will be limited. It is currently unclear how much demand Japan has for CoWoS packaging, and most of TSMC’s current CoWoS customers are in the United States.
Two insiders said that Intel is also considering establishing an advanced packaging research institution in Japan to deepen its connections with local chip supply chain companies.