Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Corporation (TSMC) says it is considering setting up fabs in Europe for microchips that are used in cars.
TSMC makes about 90% of the world’s high end microchips. However, supply chain issues and increased demand have led to plans to build fabs outside Taiwan. A new fab is being built in the US state of Arizona, while another is being built in Japan, with a second Japanese fab also being considered.
Media reports said that the plans to build the European fab had slowed down due to the high number of financial regulations in Europe, and unwillingness to meet TSMCs demands. Meanwhile, reports say the company is still debating whether or not to build a new fab in Singapore instead. Singapore has offered more tax, water, and electricity subsidies to TSMC than the EU.
Demand for automotive chips in the EU is still very high. TSMC stated that they are still in the evaluation stage about future fab plans and no decision has yet been made.