In part a response to US tariffs this new capacity will feature 2nm and more advanced nodes. It’s been suggested that Fab 25 in Taichung is set to break ground this year and begin producing chips more advanced than 2nm by 2028.
TSMC plans to build five fabs in Kaohsiung, Southern Taiwan, supporting 2nm, A16, and future leading-edge nodes. This constitutes a significant acceleration in investment by TSMC, which built an average of three fabs per year from 2017 to 2020. That then jumped to five per year between 2021 and 2024.
With 2nm set to enter mass production in 2025, TSMC will tap Fab 20 in Hsinchu and Fab 22 in Kaohsiung as its key 2nm production sites, according to reports.
Overseas the company’s Arizona and Kumamoto fabs are already up and running, with a second Japanese fab breaking ground later this year.
While TSMC expects its 3nm capacity to grow over 60% this year, to keep pace with the demand from HPC and AI clients, it is also scaling up its advanced packaging capacity with SoIC capacity to grow at a compound annual rate of over 100% from 2022 to 2026, while CoWoS capacity is projected to expand by more than 80%.
All of this investment puts additional pressure on the likes of Intel and Samsung who have been struggling to compete with the Taiwanese tech giant.
