Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC) first announced a new chip fabrication facility in Japan back in 2022, where it planned to have production up and running in 2024… and now it’s operational.
TSMC in Japan (source: ChatGPT DALL-E)
The two years flew past, and now the facility is ready to begin mass production later this year, with TSMC tapping Sony’s assistance to get the plant operational in Japan. The new Kumamoto fab plant has been dubbed “Nightless Castle” as there were workers there on 24-hour shifts, which is how the new TSMC plant was built in just two years, with plants regularly taking three or more years to get up and running.
Sony is an investor and a customer for TSMC’s new plant in Japan; with the new fab plant getting up and running so quickly in Japan, that wouldn’t necessarily be done in other countries. Why? TSMC had efficient government support, strict construction timetables, and a low-cost workforce that was flooding the site and then working 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
Kumamoto Governor Ikuo Kabashima said in an interview: “We committed to having it in position within two years because that’s what TSMC asked of us. Being on time is vital to earning trust. “
Kazuhisa Matsuda, senior managing director at NowPlus, said: “We gathered workers from across the nation, from Hokkaido to Okinawa. A job that normally earns ¥30,000 was paid ¥50,000 at the TSMC site”.
A repeat of this schedule in the US simply may not happen, as Japanese unions are much more flexible and allow construction sites to operate 24 hours a day. The other Kikuyo people have called TSMC’s new factory the “Castle Without Night,” an appropriate name.
Sony staff worked with TSMC to fill materials with water and mitigate the environmental impact the new factory in Japan would have. Kumamoto had a lot of groundwater reserves, which is why TSMC chose this location.
TSMC in Japan (source: ChatGPT DALL-E)
A Sony spokeswoman said: “We have helped TSMC establish the Kumamoto plant, offering them a wide range of services, as well as securing the source of water, electricity and engineers, as well as obtaining permits and licenses. “
It’s exciting to see TSMC’s new fabrication plant in Japan coming together, and even more exciting to see what TSMC, Sony, and Japan can do in the coming years fighting against major international competitors like Intel, which has just concreted its new Intel 18A process node, and teased its next-gen Intel 14A process node which will both be made in the United States.
Anthony joined the TweakTown team in 2010 and has since reviewed a bunch of graphics cards. Anthony is a lifelong PC enthusiast with an obnoxious penchant for games built around consoles. FPS gaming since the days before the earthquake, where you would be insulted if you used a mouse for Target, has been addicted to games and hardware ever since. Working in IT retail for 10 years gave him a wealth of experience with traditional PCs. His addiction to the GPU generation is unwavering and he has recently voluntarily taken an interest in synthetic intelligence (AI). )hardware.
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