The swift opening of a Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TW:2330) semiconductor fabrication plant has both highlighted the troubles being faced in the US due to the country’s industrial policy and shown why it will be so difficult for Intel (US:INTC) to catch up with its Taiwanese competitor.
On Saturday 24 February, TSMC opened its first fabrication plant in Japan. The ‘fab’ is in the Kumamoto region in southwestern Japan and is set to start operations later this year. Following on from this success, the chipmaking giant announced it plans to open a second, more advanced fab in the coming years.
This might not seem like a big deal, but the speed with which the construction was completed is remarkable. Usually, it takes around three years to build such a plant. The Kumamoto project was completed in just 20 months. Semiconductor industry analyst Kevin Xu explained this was done by working seven days a week and running 24-hour non-stop shifts. “It’s the kind of intensity TSMC is used to in Taiwan,” Xu said, writing on Substack. “And it’s the kind of urgency that TSMC is not getting with its investments in the US so far.”