Sony To Join TSMC On New $7 Billion Chip Plant In Japan (nikkei.com) 18
TSMC, the world's largest contract chipmaker, and Sony are considering joint construction of a semiconductor factory in western Japan amid a global chip shortage, Nikkei has learned. From the report: The total investment in the project is estimated at 800 billion yen ($7 billion), with the Japanese government expected to provide up to half the amount. Japan's top auto parts maker Denso is also looking to participate through such steps as setting up equipment at the site. The Toyota Motor group member seeks stable supplies of chips used in its auto parts. Sony may also take a minority stake in a new company that will manage the factory, which will be located in Kumamoto Prefecture, on land owned by Sony and in an area adjacent to the latter's image sensor factory, according to multiple people familiar with the matter. The factory will make semiconductors used in camera image sensors, as well as chips for automobiles and other products, and is slated to go into operation by 2024, the people said.
Plans for the facility -- which would be TSMC's first chip production operation in Japan -- come as the global tech industry grapples with unprecedented semiconductor shortages and supply chain disruptions. The Japanese government, which is increasingly concerned about maintaining supply chain stability amid the chip shortage and rising tensions surrounding the Taiwan Strait, will support the project with subsidies, Nikkei learned. In exchange for subsidies, the government will seek a commitment that chip supplies to the Japanese market will take priority.
Plans for the facility -- which would be TSMC's first chip production operation in Japan -- come as the global tech industry grapples with unprecedented semiconductor shortages and supply chain disruptions. The Japanese government, which is increasingly concerned about maintaining supply chain stability amid the chip shortage and rising tensions surrounding the Taiwan Strait, will support the project with subsidies, Nikkei learned. In exchange for subsidies, the government will seek a commitment that chip supplies to the Japanese market will take priority.
Those who can, do. (Score:3, Insightful)
Where the hell is ours? Huh? Why why why did we ever allow manufacturing to escape from here? When I was little, Intel, National Semiconductor and TI owned this market. And they were made here.
If they were made here, you could fly them, truck them, hell, put them in hi-density packing and car them, if you have to.
If you would've kept making chips here, your precious chips wouldn't be sitting in a container in a ship parked outside LA for weeks now. They'd be in some 18-wheeler headed to your factory. Slow truck from Texas beats never-boat from China or Taiwan.
Or Japan. (Again.)
Heh. "What're you talking about, Doc? All the best stuff is made in Japan."
Re: (Score:3)
Indeed. It's almost like other foundries [youtu.be] like Global Foundries doesn't even exist. And it didn't escape. [youtu.be] It grew up. [youtu.be]
Re: (Score:3, Informative)
Where the hell is ours?
Being built in Arizona, as we speak.
https://www.reuters.com/techno... [reuters.com]
Re: (Score:2)
Why why why did we ever allow manufacturing to escape from here?
Wall Street.
Re:Those who can, do. (Score:5, Informative)
Where the hell is ours? Huh? Why why why did we ever allow manufacturing to escape from here? When I was little, Intel, National Semiconductor and TI owned this market. And they were made here.
What are you talking about? What sort of legal stuff did you smoke/put in your brownies?
+ Intel is still making cutting edge Processors in the Good Old USoA. Also, something called 3DXpoint (read about it).
+ Micron is still making cutting edge memory (DRAM/NAND flash) in the USoA.
+ GloFo (former AMD + IBM Fabbing) still has modern (but not cutting edge) plants in the USoA.
+ Texas instruments is still making Chips in the USoA. Yeah, not cutting edge ones, but with technology good enough for automakers and other such things. Heck, TI just bought a fab in Utah from Micron to increase their capacity (https://investors.micron.com/news-releases/news-release-details/micron-sell-lehi-utah-fab-texas-instruments)
+ ON Semiconductors (Former motorola semiconductors division) is still making semiconductors in the USoA. Again, not cutting edge, but enough for automakers and other such things. They even recently bough a Fab in NY to increase their capacity from GloFo (https://www.anandtech.com/show/14254/globalfoundries-to-sell-300mm-new-york-fab-to-on-semiconductor)
+ Skywater is a semiconductor manufacturer in the US (Minesota). Is a niche/boutique manufacturer specializing in Radiation Hardened semiconductors. You know, the type of semiconductor you would use in AeroSpace or Military applications...
+ The list goes on...
+ Also: some foreign manufacturers like Samsung have plants operating in the US (in Texas) and plan to build more, while others, like TSMC are building stateside (again, TX).
So, again, what the File System checK are you talking about?
I know that many types of manufacturing has left your country (I'm not a 'murican like you, and neither am I American like many /. readers, by the way).
But semiconductor manufacturing is one of the few industries in which the USoA is still strong.
Re: Those who can, do. (Score:2, Informative)
So how come the car makers are shutting down their lines due to a lack of chips ?
Or a flood in Taiwan sends SSD prices through the roof and supply plummeting ?
Whatever you're doing, it's not working.
Re: Those who can, do. (Score:4, Informative)
So how come the car makers are shutting down their lines due to a lack of chips ?
Beacuse making silicon chips is slightly more complex than doing potato chips. At the begining of the pandemic, car makers cancelled their chip orders (lead times for a chip are of the 6 months or more). The fabs filled the space with other types of chis, chips for bread toasters (yes, your humble bread toaster has a chip in it), fridges, IoT doodads, whatever. A U$D 10 Billion fab can not be left idle because car makers cancelled their chip orders.
When car demand ramped up, car manufacturers found themselves at the end of the queue, and the lead times became longer because, due to the Bullwhip effect ( https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/... [wikipedia.org] ) world + dog was buying chips, and more of them to "hoard".
Or a flood in Taiwan sends SSD prices through the roof and supply plummeting?
That you confused the 2012 flood in Taiwan that affected Hard Disk Drives (which are not made in the USoA anymore, and are not relevant to this conversation) with the SSD price increases of 2021 show how little you know/undestand of the semiconductor industry. So the explanation was done for the benefit of more enligthned people.
Re: (Score:2)
How about you shove your condescending head up your ass you autistic wanker ?
The fact remains, the shortages exist.
You can try and hand wave your way out of it as much as you want.
Unfortunately for you, reality doesn't care about your opinion.
Maybe you could google up consumer sovereignty vs citizenship while you're at it ?
You're almost a text book example of the Dunning- Kruger effect.
Is a given that the shortages exist. I never said that shortages do not exist. What in my writting says that I deny that the semiconductor shortages exist?
I was simply giving/offering an extremely simplified explanation of the reason of the shortages in the Auto sector. Simple enough for an avergae slashdot reader to grasp.
You, on the other hand, did not grasp it. Not by a long shot.
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Intel is still making cutting edge Processors in the Good Old USoA
They're not making cutting edge processors anywhere in the world, actually. Intel is behind technically these days. In fact that's what's enabled AMD to eat their lunch. Intel always depended on two things for their performance advantage, one was their superior process technology and the other was taking shortcuts with security. The only thing that kept them on top was abuse of their position in the market.
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Now, now, TSMC is going to build a water hungry plant in water starved Arizona. Brilliant.
Re: (Score:2)
Where is ours? Money talks. There was money to be made by moving to China or selling IP to China, or even entire plants. Kaiser Aluminum had a whole plant moved to China.
Politics -- i.e. laws -- made sure that in fact to compete there was NO CHOICE but to move or sell to China. Democrats and Republicans alike loved this idea. They all made lots of money.
Better get in line (Score:2)
Well, they better get in line for the semiconductors to run the new plant! :o)
Place your bets (Score:3)
Re: (Score:3)
And Taiwanese will be just about as welcome in Japan as other minorities.
Good plan. (Score:2)
Good plan, and they better hurry before China takes over Taiwan.
Idiot move (Score:2)
I expected them to be smarter. There was some reflexive starting of new chip facilities at the start of the shortages. Announcing a new one now? Sony is out of their minds. In 3 years there will be a chip manufacturing glut, and they'll be lucky to pay back the construction loans without losing a bundle. Probably never be profitable - there will be huge overcapacity.
Just my opinion - I don't work in the chip foundry space