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TOKYO, Oct. 8 (Reuters) – Taiwanese TSMC (2330.TW) and Japan’s Sony Group Corp (6758.T) plan to jointly build a chip factory in Japan as the government is prepared to pay part of the investment of about 800 billion yen ($ 7.15 billion), the Nikkei reported on Friday.
The plant in Kumamoto, southern Japan, is expected to produce semiconductors for automobiles, camera image sensors and other products that have been hit by a global chip shortage, and is expected to begin operations by 2024, according to the report.
Japan’s leading auto parts maker Denso (6902.T) is also looking to participate through steps such as installing equipment at the site, according to the report. The Toyota Motor group member is looking for stable supplies of chips used in its auto parts.
Sony and TSMC declined to comment, while Denso was not immediately available for comment. TSMC, the world’s largest contract chip maker and primary supplier to Apple Inc (AAPL.O) said in July that it was reviewing a plan to set up production in Japan.
TSMC is concerned about the concentration of chip manufacturing capacity in Taiwan, which produces the majority of the most advanced chips in the world. China does not rule out the use of force to bring the democratic island under its control.
Japanese officials are also concerned about the stability of its industries’ supply chain, with a global chip shortage forcing automakers to cut production.
($ 1 = 111.8600 yen)
Report by Shinji Kitamura in Tokyo and Ben Blanchard in Taipei; Writing by Ritsuko Ando; Editing by Kim Coghill, Kirsten Donovan and Lincoln Feast.
Our Standards: Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.
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