Taipei, Aug. 7 (CNA) Silicon Saxony, a semiconductor cluster in Dresden, Germany, has touted its strength as a technology hub as Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. (TSMC) considers the possibility of building a plant in the European country.
In a recent statement to CNA, Silicon Saxony CEO Frank Bösenberg said his association has transformed itself into one of the five largest semiconductor clusters in the world and become very competitive as an investment destination.
In the ICT industry, a cluster refers to a network of strategically interconnected businesses and institutions in a particular geographic area.
While the market has suspected TSMC, the world's largest contract chipmaker, will choose Dresden as the base for its investments in Germany, Bösenberg did not comment directly on the market speculation.
However, he said Silicon Saxony is highly capable of developing chips for emerging application use, including automotive electronics and 6G communications.
Dresden is home to the largest semiconductor cluster in Europe, with tech giants such as contract chipmaker GlobalFoundries, automotive electronics chipmaker Infineon and auto part supplier Bosch having their investments there and forming Silicon Saxony.
In an annual general meeting held on July 26, TSMC Chairman Mark Liu (劉德音) disclosed his company is considering the possibility of setting up a production base in Germany, but said discussions on the investment plan were still at at an early stage.
Liu said TSMC has been communicating with its clients in Germany to find out whether such an investment plan will benefit them.
In his statement, Bösenberg noted that automotive electronics chips have served as a driving force in Silicon Saxony's development, while several renowned auto makers, including BMW, Volkswagen and Porsche, have production facilities nearby.
In addition, 6G communications, robotics, the Internet of Things, quantum computers and software have also become a focus of Silicon Saxony's research and development efforts, he said.
Taking advantage of Silicon Saxony, Bösenberg said, several major enterprises including GlobalFoundries, Infineon, Bosch, Zeiss and Vodafone either have invested in the past four years or will invest over the next 16 months, with a combined value expected to hit 8 billion euros (US$9.46 billion).
In addition to Germany, TSMC has also said it is considering expanding investment in the United States and Japan in order to meet strong demand from its customers in those markets.
According to TSMC, construction of a US$12 billion 5 nanometer wafer plant in the U.S. state of Arizona is progressing smoothly, with production at the fab expected to begin in 2024.
Ray Yang (楊瑞臨), a supervisor at the Industrial Technology Research Institute's (ITRI) Industrial Economics and Knowledge Center, said TSMC's investments in Japan and Germany are likely to differ from its investment in the U.S.
Unlike the Arizona plant, which will use the 5nm process, Yang said, TSMC's plants in Japan and Germany are expected to use specialty processes, which will cater auto clients in the two markets.
For example, Yang said in Japan, TSMC is expected to directly supply chips for clients such as Sony Coro, which manufactures sensors for auto production.
Yang said automotive electronics are expected to become the mainstream for semiconductor development over the next few years, following 5G applications and high performance computing devices.
