Taiwan to pour W4.3tr into revived TSMC 1.4nm plant with three facilities

TSMC, the world's largest contract chipmaker, is reviving plans to build a 1.4-nanometer factory in the Taoyuan area of northern Taiwan after the project was previously abandoned due to local opposition.

Taiwanese media outlets including Liberty Times reported Monday, citing sources, that TSMC is pushing ahead with plans to construct a 1.4nm factory at the Longtan Science Park in Taoyuan.

TSMC withdrew its expansion plans for the site in 2023 following strong resistance from local residents. Sources said the project is back on track after the Hsinchu Science Park Administration, which oversees Longtan Science Park, and the Taoyuan city government worked persistently to revive it — and as local residents' attitudes shifted.

However, the planned construction site has been reduced from the originally proposed 158.59 hectares to 104.19 hectares.

The site is set to house three factories in total: two producing semiconductors using the 1.4nm process and one dedicated to fan-out panel-level packaging.

Sources said the revival is connected to a campaign pledge by Taiwan President Lai Ching-te to develop a "Greater Silicon Valley" spanning Taoyuan, Hsinchu and Miaoli, under which the Taiwanese government plans to invest 100 billion New Taiwan dollars (about 4.3 trillion won) in the project by 2027.

Taiwan's National Science and Technology Council cleared the third-phase expansion of Longtan Science Park through a science park review committee in May and completed a report to the Executive Yuan in June. The government plans to finish land acquisition by 2029 and begin site development in 2030.

The expansion is projected to generate annual production output worth 310 billion New Taiwan dollars and create approximately 6,200 jobs.

TSMC had originally planned to build the 1.4nm factory by 2026 and begin mass production in 2027, but the project stalled after a residents' committee mounted fierce opposition to land acquisition.

Meanwhile, Hsu Mao-hsun, director of the Central Taiwan Science Park Administration, recently said a 1.4nm TSMC factory under construction at the second-phase expansion site of the Taichung campus is on track to be completed before April next year — ahead of schedule.

Sources said the first 1.4nm factory, known as P1, aims to complete trial production as early as the start of the third quarter next year, with mass production targeted for mid-2028.

Taiwanese media also reported that pricing power in the memory chip market has shifted toward Taiwanese manufacturers as the top three players — Samsung Electronics, SK hynix and US-based Micron — focus on advanced process technology.

As a result, Taiwanese memory chip makers including Nanya Technology, ADATA and Phison posted record-high sales last month. NAND flash and some DRAM prices are expected to rise more than 40 percent in the second half of the year, the reports added.