TSMC plans 25 new Taiwan factories as it pours $100b into US

TSMC, the world's largest semiconductor foundry, plans to build 25 additional factories in Taiwan over the next five years, Taiwanese media reported, even as the company pursues a massive expansion in the United States.

Taiwanese outlets including Lianhe Bao cited sources Monday as saying TSMC is considering sites in southern Kaohsiung's Ciaotou district, Tainan, southwestern Chiayi and northern Taoyuan's Longtan district for the new facilities. Science park management authorities overseeing those areas have already finalized site plans, the reports said.

The domestic expansion is seen as a response to concerns that TSMC is tilting too heavily toward the US. With the Donald Trump administration pressing to strengthen domestic semiconductor supply chains, TSMC announced plans to invest an additional $100 billion in factory construction in Arizona. At a second-quarter earnings call on July 16, TSMC Chairman Wei Che-chia said the company would build at least four advanced wafer fabrication plants capable of 2-nanometer or finer processes in the US, along with an advanced packaging facility.

The announcement fueled anxiety in Taiwan that expanding US operations would erode the island's so-called "silicon shield" — the strategic concept that Taiwan's centrality to global chip production deters military aggression — and that TSMC could effectively become an American company.

TSMC moved to calm those concerns by signaling it would maintain large-scale investment at home as well. Chairman Wei said the company plans to build additional 3-nanometer wafer factories in Taiwan, Arizona and Japan to meet market demand, and will convert some 5-nanometer equipment lines to 3-nanometer production.

Wei added that JASM, TSMC's Kumamoto factory operating subsidiary, is focused on CMOS image sensor production, while ESMC — a joint venture in Dresden, Germany, in which TSMC holds a 70 percent stake — concentrates on automotive and industrial applications.

TSMC also said development of its A14 (1.4-nanometer) next-generation advanced silicon technology, based on a full node transition, is proceeding on schedule. Trial production is set to begin next year, with mass production targeted for around 2028.

A13 (1.3-nanometer) and A12 (1.2-nanometer) processes are planned for mass production around 2029. Nanometers refer to the width of semiconductor circuit lines — the narrower the line, the lower the power consumption and the faster the processing speed.