TSMC Begins Semiconductor Mass Production at Kumamoto Plant in Japan

Completed Trial Production and Full-Scale Mass Production Starting This Month
Semiconductor Production Begins Three Years After Factory Construction Decision

The TSMC sign is displayed at SEDEX 2024, the 26th Semiconductor Exhibition held at COEX in Gangnam-gu, Seoul. Photo by Yonhap News

GlobalFoundries, the world's leading semiconductor foundry, TSMC of Taiwan, has started semiconductor mass production this month at the factory it built in Kumamoto Prefecture, Kyushu, Japan.

Local media including Asahi Shimbun reported on the 27th that TSMC completed semiconductor trial production at the Kumamoto Prefecture Plant 1 this month and has entered full-scale mass production.

The plant opened in February and underwent semiconductor trial production until last month.

TSMC stated, "Kumamoto Prefecture Plant 1 has completed all process certifications and started mass production as planned this month," adding, "It will become a stable advanced semiconductor production base in Japan and contribute to the global semiconductor ecosystem."

Takashi Kimura, Governor of Kumamoto Prefecture, also expressed at a press conference on the same day, "I am pleased about the start of mass production."

TSMC decided to build this plant in the fall of 2021 and completed all processes in about three years until this mass production start. Construction began in April 2022, and the opening ceremony was held in February this year.

At TSMC Kumamoto Prefecture Plant 1, 12 to 16 nanometer (nm, one billionth of a meter) and 22 to 28 nanometer semiconductors used in smartphones, automobiles, and industrial equipment can be produced at a capacity of 55,000 300mm silicon wafers per month.