Chip giant TSMC shifts away from hotspot Taiwan with Japan plant
TSMC's new chip plant in Japan will boost the resilience of global supplies of the crucial hardware, the Taiwanese giant's founder Morris Chang said Saturday at an opening ceremony.
The factory in the southern Japanese island of Kyushu «will, I believe, improve the resiliency of chip supply for Japan and for the world,» the 92-year-old said in a rare public appearance.
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Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company, which counts Apple and Nvidia as clients, produces half the world's chips, used in everything from smartphones to satellites and increasingly to power AI technology.
But TSMC's customers, as well as governments concerned about supplies of chips vital to their economies and defence, want the firm to make more chips away from the self-ruled island.
China's increasing assertiveness towards Taiwan — which it claims as its own territory and has not ruled out taking by force — has sparked worries about the world's dependence on the island for chip production and pushed TSMC to diversify where it makes them.
The new plant in Japan is «the most significant TSMC international investment to open in many years», said Chris Miller,
