TSMC, the world's largest contract chipmaker, is pushing to build five more cutting-edge advanced packaging (AP) plants, Taiwanese media including Liberty Times Net reported on the 28th, citing sources.
The sources pointed to an online public comment process disclosed on the 24th on the website of Taiwan's National Science and Technology Council (NSTC), covering an expansion plan for the Chiayi park under the Southern Taiwan Science Park Bureau. Liberty Times Net said the announcement effectively marks the starting point for a third phase of the Chiayi Science Park, adding that the plan will go through a month of public comment, review and approval by the Executive Yuan, Taiwan's cabinet, and then an environmental impact assessment.
The third-phase site will use 198.65 hectares of farmland owned by state-run Taiwan Sugar Corp. near the Chiayi Science Park in Taibao, Chiayi County, in the island's southwest. If construction is completed as planned, the Chiayi Science Park will house a total of 10 advanced packaging plants, making it the world's largest such cluster and a capital of advanced packaging.
Local media said TSMC is expanding capacity to keep customers from defecting, as demand from artificial intelligence chip leaders such as Nvidia, AMD and Apple for TSMC's chip-on-wafer-on-substrate (CoWoS) advanced packaging technology has surged and outstripped supply.
