The Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC) is reportedly discussing with the Singapore government plans to open a plant in that country.
TSMC is well known for producing Apple Series A and M chipsas well as AMD processors, but the tech giant also manufactures chips for display drivers and power management, which are lacking due to supply constraints due to blockages associated with COVID-19. These supply restrictions have already cost Apple $ 6 billion over the past two quarters, and that amount could rise to $ 8 billion.
According to Wall Street Journal In the report, the Singapore plant will theoretically help address this shortcoming by producing more of these critical chips. TSMC is examining the possibility of production lines producing chips from seven to 28 nanometers, according to sources. This will be based on old manufacturing technologies already used in cars, smartphones and other devices.
Negotiations on the new plant are still ongoing and have not yet been completed.
Analysis: why move?
TSMC has other reasons to want a new factory in another country. First, it would be easier to work around China, which, to put it mildly, has a complicated relationship with China and prevents too much chip production in one country.
The company is also interested in building six plants in the US, but has got into a few snags a year after the first announcement of the plans. Opening a plant in Singapore would further help global diversification, while potentially avoiding what TSMC founder Maurice Chang said as a shortage of personnel in manufacturing in the US as well as the high cost of producing chips.
Quanta Computer, the only supplier of high-end MacBook Pro models, is also searching moving production from Shanghai to the Chongqing plant to also help lift supply restrictions, so TSMC isn’t the only Apple vendor looking to diversify its production in response to the supply chain crisis.
https://www.techradar.com/news/chip-manufacturer-tsmc-plans-to-open-singapore-plant-to-tackle-chip-shortage/
