Significant increase in capacity of TSMC factory under construction in Japan announced

TSMC

Taiwan's TSMC, the world's largest contract chipmaker, said a chip manufacturing plant it is building in Japan with Sony will receive an additional $1.6 billion in funding, on top of the $7 billion originally envisaged, Reuters reported .

The monthly capacity of the factory will be up to 55,000 12-inch plates, and not 45,000, as planned before. The plant will reach its design capacity at the end of 2024.

According to Reuters, the Japanese government welcomed the announcement. Japanese authorities want TSMC to build factories in the country to make it easier to supply chips to Japanese electronics manufacturers and car companies as tensions between the US and China threaten to disrupt supply chains and demand for chips rises.

Denso

Denso, a Japanese automotive component manufacturing corporation, will invest $350 million in a TSMC factory and receive more than 10% of the shares. Automakers have been hit particularly hard by the global chip shortage, causing some production lines to shut down.

Last year, TSMC pledged to spend $100 billion over three years to expand chip manufacturing capacity. The company is building a $12 billion plant in the US state of Arizona, Reuters notes.

Previously, TSMC's management  chose  American automakers and Apple as priority customers after meeting with the head of the US Department of Commerce.