According to a report in the China Times, TSMC may be somewhat ahead of schedule to open its new fab in Kaohsiung Science Park which will be its second fab able to process wafers with the company’s N2 process technology (2nm class). However the report noted that at this point, TSMC has not confirmed the preliminary report. The report also noted that the foundry has obtained the necessary government permissions to construct yet another fab in Kaohsiung Science Park.
It was also noted that although TSMC normally will not deploy two leading edge fabs at the same time, phase one of the company’s N2-capable fab near Kaohsiung is looking to begin mass production in 2025, which is slightly ahead of schedule.
The chipmaker is preparing to construct a minimum of two N-2 capable fabs in Taiwan. The first fab will be located near Baoshan in Hsinchu County, next to its R1 research and development center, which is responsible for the development of its N2 technology. The company’s plan is for the fab to begin high volume production of 2nm chips as of the second half of 2025. The firm’s second N2 fab will be located in Kaohsiung Science Park, a satellite of the Southern Taiwan Science Park near Kaohsiung. The company had planned for this fab to begin high volume production later, in 2026.
Despite the report that the first phase N2-capable fab in Kaohsiung Science Park could be prepared to begin production ahead of schedule, analyst note there are two big questions. First, is whether the company will invest in equipping the fab ahead of schedule. The chipmaker has been cautious about capital expenditures in recent quarters, so possibly not. The second question is, even if it equips the fab fully, will there be enough demand from customers to utilize the capacity of the facility, given 2nm process technologies are projected to be extremely expensive for fabless customers.
On the other side, TSMC might enable as much 2nm capacity as possible in 2025 due to intensifying competition from Intel and Samsung Foundry. The chipmaker will want to be sure it can serve all of its clients which are willing to pay a premium for the newest process technologies and which require massive volumes.
