TSMC to spend $17 billion on Japanese 3nm plant –

TSMC was already making a new chip plant in Kumamoto, but according to multiple media including The Wall Street Journal, the plant has changed purpose while still being under construction.

While originally intended for less vital production, it will now be aimed at producing 3nm chips, with TSMC reported to be spending $17 billion, which may be why TSMC Chairman C.C Wei had a meeting with Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi.

While this investment seems huge, especially as TSMC have previously disclosed plans of investing $20 billion in production in Japan, it’s still dwarfed by their $165 billion investment in manufacturing in USA.

Since TSMC makes the actual chips for both AMD, Nvidia, Apple, and Qualcomm, more capacity is desperately needed if prices are to go down within a realistic time frame.

Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co., Ltd.