The investment will be carried out in the context of the European Chip Law through the European Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (ESMC)
The German State of Saxony and Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing (TSMC), one of the world’s largest manufacturers of microchips, announced the signing this Tuesday of a memorandum of understanding to train German university students in Taiwan in the details of the microchip industry.
In this way, starting in February, at least one hundred students a year will be able to spend six months on the Asian island and acquire the necessary know-how to make up for the lack of German workers with the necessary knowledge in the field of microchips.
This agreement follows the one announced last August by TSMC, the German companies Bosch and Infineon Technologies and the Dutch company NXP Semiconductors to promote the manufacturing of microprocessors in Europe, and which includes the construction of a factory in Dresden, the capital of Saxony. The total investment will amount to 10,000 million euros and will involve the creation of 2,000 direct jobs in high-tech positions.
Factory in Dresden
According to the four companies, the investment will be carried out in the context of the European Chip Law through the European Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (ESMC), domiciled in Germany, and which seeks to provide advanced semiconductor manufacturing services to support future needs of the industrial and automotive sectors.
The joint venture will be 70% owned by TSMC, while Bosch, Infineon and NXP will each have a 10% equity stake, subject to regulatory approvals and other conditions.
Total investments are expected to exceed €10 billion, consisting of a capital injection, debt loans and strong support from the European Union and the German Government, although the final decision on the level of public financing for this project is Confirmation not still confirmed.
TSMC aims to begin construction of the plant in the second half of 2024 and production is expected to begin in late 2027.
About TSMC
TSMC created the semiconductor Dedicated IC Foundry business model when it was founded in 1987. In 2022, TSMC served 532 customers and manufactured 12,698 products for various applications covering a variety of end markets including high performance computing, smartphones, the Internet of Things (IoT), automotive, and digital consumer electronics.
Annual capacity of the manufacturing facilities managed by TSMC and its subsidiaries exceeded 15 million 12-inch equivalent wafers in 2022. These facilities include four 12-inch wafer GIGAFAB® fabs, four 8-inch wafer fabs, and one 6-inch wafer fab – all in Taiwan – as well as one 12-inch wafer fab at a wholly owned subsidiary, TSMC Nanjing Company Limited, and two 8-inch wafer fabs at wholly owned subsidiaries, WaferTech in the United States and TSMC China Company Limited.
About Wooptix
Wooptix is a leader in semiconductor metrology through wavefront phase imaging, a technique derived from adaptive optics research in astronomy. With a multidisciplinary team, Wooptix aims to disrupt the semiconductor metrology industry with the highest lateral resolution and fastest measurement technique for inline fab measurements.
The company has developed Phemet®, a wafer shape lab tool for blank and patterned wafers, ahead of the upcoming fully automated fab tool, expected in 2024. Wooptix has already deployed Phemet® at several customer sites worldwide.
Wooptix is based at Tenerife, Madrid (Spain) and San Francisco (USA).