2023-08-08 12:35:00
TSMC
Chips: The world’s largest contract manufacturer in the semiconductor industry is investing ten billion euros in Dresden.
(Foto: Bloomberg)
Munich Important decision for the German industry: The chip company TSMC invests in Dresden. That was decided by the board of directors of the world’s largest contract manufacturer in the semiconductor industry this Tuesday.
Accordingly, ten billion euros are to flow into a new factory, which will probably start series production at the end of 2027. The Handelsblatt had already reported on the plans on Monday.
Chips with structure sizes of 22 and 28 nanometers and 12 and 16 nanometers are to be produced in the new factory. These are components that German car manufacturers in particular need. For comparison: With its most complex and advanced processes, TSMC produces chips with a structural size of three nanometers.
“This investment in Dresden underscores TSMC’s commitment to serving our customers’ strategic capacity and technology needs, and we welcome the opportunity to deepen our long-standing partnership with Bosch, Infineon and NXP,” said TSMC CEO CC Wei. “Europe is an extremely promising location for semiconductor innovations, especially in the automotive and industrial sectors.”
The Dax group Infineon, the Dutch chip manufacturer NXP and Bosch, the world’s largest automotive supplier, are involved in the factory. Each of these partners holds ten percent of the joint venture. TSMC does not sell semiconductors under its own name, but only supplies other suppliers.
Bosch secures the supply chain
Bosch boss Stefan Hartung sees the commitment as an opportunity to secure your own supply chain – right next to your own factory. Hartung: “We are pleased to be able to gain a global innovation leader in TSMC to strengthen the semiconductor ecosystem in the immediate vicinity of our semiconductor plant in Dresden.”
The new plant is to be built on a 50-hectare site at Dresden Airport. A few years ago, Bosch settled right next door. According to the Free State of Saxony, the TSMC site offers enough space to build another production facility in the future.
>> Read here: No water, no chips: How the industry has to solve its own environmental drama
According to the information, TSMC is investing almost 3.5 billion euros from its own funds. The federal government is expected to support the settlement with up to five billion euros. The other three partners each account for around 500 million euros. The total volume will then be around ten billion euros. Construction work is scheduled to start in the third quarter of 2024.
With the subsidies, the government is hoping for a more stable supply of German key sectors with semiconductors. During the pandemic, the assembly lines stood still in many places because manufacturers like TSMC from the Far East could not deliver enough.
“Silicon Saxony” attracts investments worth billions
Meanwhile, TSMC is not the only chip group expanding in the region, the so-called “Silicon Saxony”. In the spring, Infineon began construction work on a new plant costing five billion euros. The Munich company already operates a large location in the Saxon state capital. In addition, the contract manufacturer Globalfoundries is based in Dresden with large plants.
The federal government has recently lured two US manufacturers into the country with lavish subsidies: Intel is investing in Magdeburg and collecting ten billion euros from the state for it. Wolfspeed is building a much smaller plant in Saarland and will receive several hundred million euros for it.
Meanwhile, Saxony has high hopes for the settlement: “TSMC’s commitment will attract other international companies and, above all, other skilled workers,” said Dirk Röhrborn, President of the Silicon Saxony industry association.
However, this also entails an obligation, according to Frank Bösenberg, Managing Director of Silicon Saxony. “The city planners are challenged to develop the infrastructure with the necessary speed. The previous plans must be brought into line with the needs of the future.”
More: Subsidies for chip manufacturers – “The 43 billion can only be the beginning”
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