Kyushu, Japan, has become one of the important gathering places for the semiconductor industry. Starting from TSMC's construction of a large-scale factory in Kumamoto Prefecture, equipment manufacturers such as Tokyo Electronics and Ebara Manufacturing Co., Ltd. have also successively invested in Kumamoto. If we continue to promote supply chain construction, economic benefits are bound to increase significantly.
On a hill in Kikuyo Town, Kumamoto Prefecture, stands a huge fortress-like building. The TSMC factory, which has invested 1 trillion yen (approximately US$6.7 billion) and has been under construction around the clock starting in the spring of 2022, is about to be completed. The factory is scheduled to be put into operation at the end of 2024, but personnel and their families from the Taiwan headquarters began to arrive in Kumamoto after August this year, and various equipment is expected to enter the factory starting in October.
Ebara Manufacturing Co., Ltd. will start construction of a new factory building in Nanguan Town, Kumamoto Prefecture in October. The company plans to increase its equipment production capacity for semiconductor substrate grinding, and its market share in this field has reached 20%.
It is expected that the new factory will be completed at the same time as the TSMC factory is put into production, which is by the end of 2024. With the expansion of production lines and the improvement of logistics efficiency within the plant, EBARA plans to expand total production to 1.5 times the current level. President Masao Asami said, "The rise of artificial intelligence and data centers will continue to increase the demand for semiconductors, and we have judged that additional investment is necessary."
Tokyo Electronics, the largest semiconductor equipment manufacturer in the country, also plans to complete the construction of an R&D center in Aishi City, Kumamoto Prefecture in the summer of 2025, with a related investment of 43 billion yen. The center will mainly develop coating and developing equipment. Tokyo Electronics holds 90% of the global market share in this field. "The scale of our business in Kyushu will double," said Shinichi Hayashi, president of Tokyo Electronics Kyushu Branch, the subsidiary in charge of production.
Disco, which ranks first in market share in the field of semiconductor wafer cutting equipment, established a new R&D center in Kumamoto in July this year. The relevant person in charge hopes that customers can personally observe the front line of research and development, so as to build a closer partnership.
Overseas companies are also making new moves. The world's largest lithography machine manufacturer, ASML of the Netherlands, relocated and expanded its technical support center in Kumamoto Prefecture in September this year. Previously, there were only 10 staff here. In the future, including permanent technical staff and short-term business trip personnel, there will be a maximum of 60 employees working at the same time. Since the parts required to install and maintain equipment will also increase significantly, ASML also plans to open a new warehouse in Kumamoto Prefecture in the summer of 2024.
The American Lam Group, which ranks third in the world in the field of semiconductor manufacturing equipment, also relocated its R&D base in Kumamoto Prefecture and established a "Kumamoto Service Center" in August that is much larger than before.
In addition to TSMC's factories, there are also numerous projects attracting major equipment manufacturers to Kyushu. Sony Group plans to purchase the land needed to build a new semiconductor factory within 23 years. In addition, ROHM Semiconductor Group also plans to set up a factory in Miyazaki Prefecture. TSMC’s second factory in Japan is also likely to be located in Kumamoto Prefecture. From the perspective of the development of the entire industry, it is indispensable to build a supply chain of equipment and raw materials. According to the words of the director of the Kyushu Bureau of Economy and Industry, Mr. Maomura, it is necessary to build a domestic and foreign cooperation system.
In order to strengthen the supply network, it is also necessary to cultivate human resources. SCREEN Holdings invested 500 million yen in June to open an institution dedicated to training engineers at the Kumamoto Works. The facility has prepared state-of-the-art semiconductor cleaning equipment for which the company has a high market share, and is cultivating engineers who can quickly respond to changes in specifications. The facility will also serve as a client-facing training facility and is expected to accommodate up to 30 people per week.
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