Taiwan’s largest semiconductor foundry may be looking to set up a fab in Germany. That was the word from Germany’s Capital magazine in an article published on Wednesday.
The Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC) makes 58% of the world’s semiconductor ships. The German magazine article said that TSMC is going to send a delegation to Dresden in October to look at the possibility of setting up a fab there.
Dresden is known as Silicon Saxony as it has the highest concentration of semiconductor companies in Europe. Infineon, NXP, Global Foundries and Bosch all have plants there.
Germany’s Ministry of Economy did not comment on the TSMC plan and said there were no tangible plans yet. In July, TSMC said it is willing to set up a plant in Germany, but it later said that subsidies, talent and demand were all factors that would influence its decision.
The EU and Germany are preparing to offer subsidies to build a semiconductor supply chain. Germany’s economic minister Robert Haback says that it is necessary to have semiconductor manufacturing plants in Germany. In March, Intel announced that it would set up a fab in Magdeburg with an initial investment of €17 billion.