More than 20 Japanese companies are seeking Taiwan’s TSMC for help in developing their own semiconductor manufacturing technology. TSMC is the world’s top contract chip maker with the largest market share in the global semiconductor industry.
The project is expected to cost about US$337 million, and the Japanese government will foot half of the cost. This summer, construction will begin on a trial facility at the National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology in Tsukuba of Ibaraki Prefecture. The facility is slated to begin operations in 2022.
Semiconductors are crucial to modern technology, from smartphones to gaming consoles to cars. The automobile industry has been one of the sectors hardest hit by the COVID-19 pandemic due to semiconductor shortages.