[Asia Economy Reporter Jeong Hyunjin] Taiwan's TSMC, the 'No.1 foundry industry leader,' has received government approval to build a factory capable of producing semiconductors using advanced 2-nanometer (nm; 1 nm equals one billionth of a meter) process technology.
According to local media including China Securities Journal on the 29th, Taiwan's environmental regulatory body, the Environmental Review Committee, gave final approval yesterday for TSMC's semiconductor factory construction plan. As a result, TSMC will be able to establish a new 2-nanometer chip production line on nearly 50 acres in the Hsinchu Industrial Park in northern Taiwan. Japan's Nikkei Asia, citing sources, predicted that with this approval, TSMC will begin construction early next year and be able to install production equipment by 2023.
This news came just one day after Intel announced its plan to catch up with TSMC and Samsung Electronics in the foundry market by 2024. On the 27th, Intel mentioned the term "angstrom (?; 0.1 nm)" and declared it would showcase 2-nanometer level technology in 2024.
As advanced process competitiveness emerges as a key factor in the foundry industry, the approval of TSMC's semiconductor factory for advanced processes is interpreted as the Taiwanese government's strong commitment to actively support this. A Taiwanese government source told Nikkei Asia, "From a geopolitical perspective, it is very important to enable TSMC to establish the most advanced technology," adding, "We cannot obstruct TSMC's plans to maintain its competitive edge."
With TSMC and Intel rushing to strengthen their advanced technology competitiveness, Samsung Electronics, the leading domestic foundry company, inevitably faces pressure. Samsung Electronics has not yet mentioned its 2-nanometer technology. However, during its Q2 earnings conference call held on the same day, Samsung stated, "We plan to mass-produce the first generation of 3-nanometer products applying GAA (Gate-All-Around) process next year," and added, "We are progressing steadily with process development aiming to mass-produce the second generation of 3-nanometer products with GAA in 2023," revealing its plans for 3-nanometer product mass production.
© The Asia Business Daily(www.asiae.co.kr). All rights reserved.
