As TSMC ramps up expansion in Arizona, talk has been swirling about delays at its second Kumamoto fab. Today, Chairman and CEO C.C. Wei confirmed the setback at the shareholder meeting, pointing to heavy local traffic as the key reason, according to Central News Agency.
As Kyodo News previously reported, TSMC’s first Kumamoto fab began volume production in late 2024, making 12 to 28nm chips for cars and image sensors, with customers like Sony and Denso. However, according to the Economic Daily News, Wei said the second fab, originally set to break ground in Q1 2025, will now be pushed back to mid-year.
As per CNA, Wei noted that TSMC has already discussed the matter with both the Japanese government and its customers, adding that heavy traffic in the area is the main reason for the delay—what used to be a 10–15 minute drive now takes nearly an hour.
According to a previous report from Commercial Times, citing Japanese media outlet TBS News, the groundbreaking date for TSMC’s second fab in Kumamoto has been pushed back from the originally planned “first quarter of 2025” to “sometime within 2025.”
However, the plant’s production timeline remains unchanged, and it is still expected to begin mass production by the end of 2027, as the report highlights.
According to a previous Economic Daily News report, TSMC’s delay could stem from rising U.S. interest among Japanese auto clients, pushing TSMC to prioritize its U.S. fabs. Plus, a shaky automotive chip market and fierce competition might add to the hold-up, especially given the Japan fab’s primary focus on the automotive sector, the report suggests.
Meanwhile, CNA suggests that when asked about the possibility of building a fab in the Middle East, C.C. Wei dismissed the idea as highly unlikely, noting that only the U.S., Taiwan, China, parts of Europe, and Japan currently have chip design capabilities. “In the Middle East,” he said, “there simply wouldn’t be any customers.”
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(Photo credit: TSMC)
