Sony to invest $500 mn in TSMC’s chip plant venture in Japan

Sony Group announced it will invest about $500 million for nearly 20 percent stake in a joint venture with Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing (TSMC) that will build a $7 billion chip plant in Japan.
Construction of the fab in Japan is scheduled to begin in 2022 and production will begin by the end of 2024. The fab is expected to directly create about 1,500 high-tech professional jobs and to have a monthly production capacity of 45,000 12-inch wafers, Sony and TSMC said.

TSMC in 2019 set up the Japan Design Center to serve its customers and is working with Japanese partners to expand the frontiers of advanced packaging technology with the 3DIC Research Center in Ibaraki Prefecture.

The latest decision marks a success for Japanese industry ministry officials, who want TSMC to build plants to supply chips to Japan’s electronic device makers and auto companies as trade frictions between the United States and China threaten to disrupt supply chains and demand for the key component grows.

Amid growing tension with mainland China, TSMC has become concerned about the concentration of chipmaking in Taiwan, which produces most of the world’s advanced semiconductors.