TSMC announced today it will open a new chip design center in Munich by the third quarter of this year, something viewed as European Union victory as it pursues self-reliance in chip production.
According to an article on the MarketScreener (with Reuters) site, “This initiative is part of TSMC’s broader strategy to establish a long-term presence on the continent. In partnership with Infineon, NXP, and Bosch, the group is also building a semiconductor manufacturing plant in Dresden, Germany. Called the European Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (ESMC), this joint venture aims to strengthen Europe’s technological autonomy and support key industries, including automotive and embedded systems.”
And a Wall Street Journal article reported that TSMC said the design center will focus on high-performance and energy-efficient chips for various industrial business sectors and artificial intelligence.
“The announcement comes as the semiconductor industry continues to ride high on a wave of strong demand for chips to power the data centers behind the AI boom,” the Journal stated. TSMC, which manufactures chips for NVIDIA, AMD and Intel, among other tech companies, “… is guiding for mid-20 percent growth in sales this year and expects revenue from AI-related servers and processors to double in 2025.”
The design hub will expand TSMC’s network of nine global design centers in Taiwan, mainland China, Japan, Canada and the U.S., acc ording to the Journal.
The moves comes as global trade conflicts and geopolitical rivalries intensify. “…. European authorities are encouraging the local development of a chip ecosystem. TSMC, the world leader in semiconductor foundry, is playing a central role in this strategy by making its cutting-edge technologies available to European industrial customers.”
Source: https://insideainews.com/