TSMC mulls building a fab in Germany

TSMC is considering constructing its first European fab in Germany. “We are currently doing reviews on Germany seriously, but it’s still in very early stages. We continue to communicate with our major clients in Germany to see whether this is most important and effective for them,” TSMC chairman Mark Liu told shareholders on Monday, according to media reports.

The European Commission has shown strong interest in expanding Europe’s chip manufacturing capacity. On 19 July, it announced the European Alliance for Industrial Processors and Semiconductor Technologies, aiming to boost 16-10nm production as well as establishing leading-edge fabs. Considering the current chip needs of German and other European companies, TSMC will most likely only be willing to contribute to the former ambition. Indeed, Taiwanese news outlet Digitimes previously reported that TSMC was looking at 16/12nm processing in Germany.