Japan has put ¥37 billion, about US$338 million, behind a chip research project built around Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. AFP reported the approval on 1 June 2021, citing an official at Japan’s Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry.
About 20 Japanese companies are to work alongside TSMC. The official told AFP the government would pay for more than half of the cost. Chemical makers Asahi Kasei, Mitsui Chemicals and Sumitomo Chemical are on the list.
What the money buys
The research targets 3D chip assembly, a method for building components that are denser but still small. The aim is to improve Japan’s standing in a sector where, as AFP noted, Taiwan’s chipmaking plants rank among the largest and most advanced anywhere.
Work will be based at the National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology in Tsukuba, about 60km northeast of Tokyo. Construction on the research facilities was due to start that summer, according to the official, with the project itself expected to begin the following year.
A shortage in the background
The approval landed in the middle of a global chip squeeze. Cars were hit hardest. Pandemic-driven demand for home electronics had already stretched supply, and a US cold snap, a drought in Taiwan and a fire at Japan’s Renesas Electronics made it worse.
Michael Dell, founder and chief executive of Dell, said in May that he expected the crisis “will probably continue for a few years”. Cisco chief executive Chuck Robbins had said in April that the shortage might last another six months, though he did not expect it to be resolved before 2022.
TSMC was also busy elsewhere. Reports a month earlier said the company was planning five more chip plants in Arizona, which would be a major step in moving some manufacturing from Taiwan to the United States. Talks on a TSMC plant in Europe had reportedly collapsed. The EU wanted to lift its share of global semiconductor production from 9% to 20% by 2030.
Sources
- Japan, TSMC to conduct chip project – Taipei Times (AFP)
- Japan funds $338 million TSMC chip development project – IT Pro (citing AFP)
