Wafer foundry TSMC recently held an interim board meeting and approved a $2.887 billion capital budget to build 40,000 wafers per month of 28nm capacity at its Nanjing plant, according to a report in Taiwan media.
TSMC said the interim board's decision to build mature process capacity to meet increased structural demand is due to a global chip supply shortage that began with automotive chips.
TSMC is building 40,000 wafers per month of 28nm capacity at its Nanjing plant, which is expected to open in the second half of 2022, with the capacity to reach 40,000 wafers per month by mid-2023, the report said.
Expanding the existing Nanjing facility is the quickest way to provide much-needed 28nm capacity for global customers, TSMC said, adding that the Nanjing plant has an original 20,000 wafers of 16nm capacity.
TSMC, the world's largest and most technologically advanced foundry, has now achieved mass production of its 5nm process and is advancing to 3nm, 2nm, and even sub-1nm nanometer processes.
In contrast, the 28nm process is a very mature process for TSMC, and increasing the capacity of the process will help alleviate the global chip shortage dilemma, especially for the automotive industry.
Unlike cell phones, game consoles, and other consumer electronics products, the automotive requirements for the chip process are not very high, and 28nm chips are enough.
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