Semiconductor manufacturing giant Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC) plans to boost its Nanjing plant's 28nm wafer capacity from 40,000 wafers per month to 100,000 wafers per month, an increase of up to 150 percent, the Taiwan Economic Daily reported Tuesday.
TSMC will adjust the Nanjing plant's 7nm process to 28nm, possibly to guard against trade risks, the report said.
Stronger than expected customer demand for 28nm wafers is the main reason TSMC is adjusting its strategy and ramping up to 28nm, the report said.
TSMC 28nm wafers currently have a monthly capacity of 180,000 wafers, ranking first in the world.
TSMC is considering opening a chip fab in Germany, however, it is still in the very early stages of discussions, the report said.
On April 22, TSMC's board of directors approved a new investment plan, approving a $2.887 billion expansion of its Nanjing plant to produce 28nm wafers with a monthly capacity of 40,000 wafers, mainly for automotive electronics chips.
TSMC pointed out that the current Taiwan wafer fab no longer has clean room space, only the Nanjing plant has ready space available, can be directly set up production lines.
TSMC's Nanjing plant's 28nm wafers will be in mass production in the second half of 2022 and reach its full capacity target of 40,000 wafers per month by mid-2023.
TSMC's Nanjing facility currently produces mainly 16nm chips with a monthly capacity of approximately 20,000 wafers.
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