A tale of two chip plants: Delayed in the US, on time in Japan
KIKUYO, Japan—It was a signature feat for the country that made industrial policy famous. In less than two years, an $8.6 billion semiconductor factory on a plot the size of 40 football fields sprang up amid the cabbage fields here. The Japanese government, eager to boost the country’s standing as a chip-making hub, provided more than $3 billion in subsidies for Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing and helped round up thousands of workers to construct the buildings.
The plant, operated by TSMC subsidiary Japan Advanced Semiconductor Manufacturing, is set to start mass production this year on schedule. Across the Pacific in Phoenix, TSMC is also building a semiconductor plant—but there are some differences. The Biden administration hasn’t committed to giving the company money.
TSMC encountered resistance bringing in the Taiwanese specialists that the company said it needed to build the plant. And the company has backtracked from its original schedule, planning to open its first plant in 2025 instead of this year, while pushing back a second plant at least a year to 2027 or later. The two projects aren’t identical: The U.S.
plant is bigger and slated to make more advanced chips. TSMC has said it doesn’t believe the U.S. and Japan projects should be compared because of differences in setup and scope.
Still, the diverging timelines point to the experience and funding gap between the U.S. and Japan when it comes to the government directing high-tech investment. The U.S.
is laying down more conditions that can slow down the process, say people involved in the projects. “I think there’s something of a culture of speed in Asia," said Tokyo Electron CEO Toshiki Kawai, whose company supplies chip-making equipment to TSMC. Being
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