Rumours were circulating in recent weeks about the interest in contract production of chips in Europe by the Taiwanese TSMC. CC Wei, CEO of TSMC, explained to analysts today that they are indeed evaluating the opportunity and will be serving local automakers.
“In Europe, we are working with clients and partners to assess the possibility of building a specialized facility focusing on technologies used in the automotive segment, depending on the presence of demand from customers and support from the government,” — said the head of TSMC. He confirmed that the company is looking at building another plant in Japan. It will also be operating with the direct support and benefit from Sony and Denso.
The TSMC management believes that Japan needs sufficient demand from its customers and the support of the authorities to make it possible to build a second plant. For the construction of this first enterprise, the Japanese government is willing to pay close to half the costs of TSMC or its partners.
TSMC management also shared their forecasts for the upcoming year. According to TSMC, the entire semiconductor industry will see a 4% drop in revenue in 2023, with the exception being the memory chips segment. The revenue of the company will decline in the first half, but it will increase in the second half, which will slightly increase revenue for the entire year. In the current half year, the most challenging moment for the company in terms of demand should be passed. Research and development spending will rise by 20% this year, despite the reduction in capital expenditures at $32 billion.