Chipmakers Invest Billions to Expand Semiconductor Capacity

Chipmakers struggled to keep up with increased demand while being hit by multiple supply chain disruptors: COVID-19, the Russia/Ukraine Conflict and global lockdowns in China and abroad. 

In order to find a solution to the shortages, chipmakers are looking at investment opportunities and business expansions. 

Chipmakers Expanding Their Business Operations 

Chipmakers TSMC, GlobalFoundries, GlobalWafers, & Nanya Technologies have all planned massive expansions to their businesses to offset continuing supply chain disruptions. 

GlobalWafers 

• GlobalWafers, the world’s third-largest silicon wafer maker, announced a $5 billion dollar fabrication plant in Sherman, Texas. Construction is slated to begin later in 2022, with production scheduled to begin in 2025. This plant will become the largest 12-inch silicon wafer production site in the United States.  

GlobalFoundries (GF) 

• GlobalFoundries announced the company will further increase production capacity at one of its three production sites in Singapore, New York, and Germany. GF will continue to ramp up capacity across the board to meet demand over the next 5 to 10 years. 
• GF’s investment into their Singapore facility totals $4 billion USD, which includes building a new factory with a 23,000-square-meter cleanroom. 

Nanya Technology   

• DRAM manufacturer Nanya Technology recently announced that it will spend $10 billion to build a new 12-inch wafer fab in New Taipei City, which was expected to break ground on June 23. The fab aims to start mass production in 2025, with a monthly production capacity of about 45,000 pieces of DRAM with 10nm process technology.  
• In recent years, Nanya Technology has actively invested in independent technology development and process conversion and developed a new 10-nanometer DRAM memory technology in early 2020. 

Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC)  

• TSMC will manufacture advanced semiconductors (3nm-level) in the new facilities. The company recently announced its chip production roadmap. It will begin making 3nm chips this year. Over the next few years, the Taiwanese firm will also introduce advanced 3nm processors tailored to performance and power efficiency. It plans to jump to the 2nm technology in 2025.  
• Also established its Japan 3DIC R&D Center subsidiary in March 2021 and later began construction on a clean room facility in the Tsukuba Center of AIST. With the completion of the clean room, the TSMC Japan 3DIC R&D Center will support the research and development of state-of-the-art 3D IC packaging material in collaboration with Japanese partners, domestic research institutes, and universities possessing strengths in semiconductor materials and equipment.  
• In June, TSMC began construction of a new fabrication plant in Arizona at a budget of $12 billion USD and is expected to be fully functional by 2024. 

Track Investments and Impact on your Supply Chain 

The industry is in the midst of a transition to new technologies, but it has been slow to develop. It is important that companies make long-term investments now, so they can start making improvements to their manufacturing processes and product lines that will help them survive the next decade. 

SiliconExpert monitors industry changes in the market and alerts you to changes in your BOM. More specifically, when global manufacturers or chipmakers expand their operations and capacity, this has a direct effect on your supply chain and procurement risk. The addition of new fabrication sites will lower risk by adding multi-sourcing options and increasing available inventory. 

With BOM Manager, you’ll be able to see BOM health risk alerts, which automatically notify users if the BOM contains parts at risk of disruption, whether inventory levels drop or if the part suddenly becomes unavailable due to obsolescence, compliance.