TSMC's looking to expand with new chip plant in Japan

"We are expanding our manufacturing footprint to extend and enhance our competitive advantage in providing industry-leading technologies," C. C. Wei said. While the expansion is still subject to approval by the company's Board of Directors, the plan has received strong support from both the company's customers and the Japanese government, the CEO explains. The plan for the new fab is to utilise 22, 28-nanometer technology for semiconductor wafer fabrication. Construction is currently scheduled to begin in 2022 and production is targeted to start in May 2024, that is if all the puzzle pieces fall together. However, as the Japanese expansion plan is still pending approval from the board of directors, details such as the size of the investment and capacity was not disclosed. "TSMC is working closely with our customers to plan our capacity and investing in leading-edge and specialty technologies to support their demand," the CEO said.