Semiconductor firms such as TSMC are at risk of water shortages as processing technology advances, S&P Global Ratings said in a report.

Japan is aiming to secure an additional JPY1.49 trillion (US$10 billion) in subsidies for two key semiconductor projects, according to a key ruling party lawmaker for chips.

TSMC's board of directors will decide in favour of building a factory in the German city of Dresden, the Handelsblatt daily reported on Monday, citing government sources.

The ecosystem for commercial chiplets-one where a marketplace of chiplets from many vendors can be incorporated into a multichip SoC by multiple packaging vendors with mix-and-match ease-has yet to appear.

Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company has reopened a lead over internet giant Tencent Holdings as Asia's biggest company by market value, helped by a resumed rally in chip stocks.

"We think TSMC will move to normal wafer-based pricing on N3 with Apple during the first half of 2024, at around $16-17K average selling prices," Brett Simpson, senior analyst at Arete Research, said in a report. "At present, we believe N3 yields at TSMC for A17 and M3 processors are at around 55% [a healthy level at this stage in N3 development], and TSMC looks on schedule to boost yields by around 5+ points each quarter."

Lin Jun-cheng, a veteran engineer who worked for TSMC for nearly 19 years, has been hired by Samsung as a vice president.

TSMC plans to construct a second chip plant in Japan to manufacture 5- and 10-nanometre chips from the second half of the decade, the Nikkan Kogyo newspaper reported on Friday.

Employee doubts are rising about TSMC's US$40 billion investment in an Arizona factory.

Also, Tan said he was considering Intel as a potential new foundry partner, as an alternative to its main supplier, Taiwan-based TSMC.

The company's move is in sharp contrast to those of its rivals such as TSMC, Intel, Micron Technology, and SK Hynix, which all declared a reduction of their investments.

Sony Group is considering building a new factory to make smartphone image sensors in the Kumamoto prefecture of Japan and sourcing chips from TSMC's planned chip plant in the area.

In a recent interview with the Barron's Tech newsletter, the Tufts history professor argued that American policy makers are still underestimating the significant risks of a possible disastrous outcome over Taiwan.

Samsung Electronics said the global technology industry is in search of alternative sources for advanced semiconductors given rising political risks.

US regulators will investigate units of Samsung, Qualcomm and TSMC over certain semiconductor devices and integrated circuits and mobile devices using those components, the U.S. International Trade Commission said on Friday.

Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. reported higher-than-expected quarterly revenue, signaling the chip giant is benefiting from market share gains to weather an industry slowdown.

TSMC CEO CC Wei said he had never had an auto industry executive call him until the shortage was desperate. "In the past two years they call me and behave like my best friend," he told a laughing crowd of TSMC partners and customers in Silicon Valley recently. One automaker called to urgently request 25 wafers, said Wei, who is used to fielding orders for 25,000 wafers. "No wonder you cannot get the support."

Keith Krach, former Under Secretary of State for Economic Growth, Energy, and the Environment in the Trump administration, speaks on the significance of the CHIPS Act, which has since been passed by the House in a 243-187 vote.

Taiwan's industrial sector, including the world's largest contract chipmaker, will be hit with the island's first power price increase in four years as the state-owned utility grapples with soaring fuel costs.

Japan's Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI) will offer subsidies worth up to JPY476 billion (US$3.5 billion) for a semiconductor plant being built in Kumamoto Prefecture by TSMC, Sony and Denso, the ministry said on Friday.

It is unclear if the talks addressed a particular issue, or just represented the heads of the world's top two chipmakers getting together for a chat while Gelsinger was in town.

TSMC is considering building a semiconductor factory in Singapore to help address a global supply shortage, according to people familiar with the matter.

TSMC said it won't start production at its 2nm node until the second half of 2025 or possibly the end of that year, which could signal a shift in the competitive landscape.

The goals don't exactly sound ambitious. For example, while TSMC plans to hit 2nm by 2026, Russia wants 28nm local chip manufacturing by 2030.

3M aims to restart PFAS-related manufacturing and continues to make non-PFAS related products at Zwijndrecht, a company spokesman said in an email to EE Times. The timeline to resolve the situation is uncertain and, in several aspects, not under 3M's control, the spokesman said. 3M has communicated with its customers about the potential for disruption.

TSMC and Samsung Electronics have urged the US to allow foreign companies to participate in a $52 billion federal program aimed at boosting chip production on American soil.

TSMC ensured it had alternate supplies of neon after Russia amassed a force along the Ukrainian border, threatening a conflict, according to a person familiar with TSMC's strategy.

Intel is increasing its reliance on erstwhile rival TSMC in its attempt to boost sales and eventually regain dominance as the world leader in manufacturing scale and chip process technology.

Construction of TSMC's first advanced chip plant in the US is three to six months behind schedule.

Sony said Tuesday that it has completed the initial funding of TSMC's chipmaking subsidiary in Japan, a key milestone in their joint venture.

The US should invest more in American chipmakers rather than their Asian rivals such as TSMC and Samsung, Intel CEO Pat Gelsinger said Wednesday, adding that domestic companies would give the country more control of intellectual property.

Japan is allocating about JPY600 billion (US$5.2 billion) of its fiscal 2021 supplementary budget to support advanced semiconductor manufacturers, Nikkei has learned.

TSMC is struggling with its latest cutting-edge manufacturing technique, which shrinks the size of transistors on chips to 3 nanometers, a change that will allow Apple to include more powerful, less energy-hungry processors in its devices without dramatically increasing their size, according to two people briefed by TSMC on the project.

Sony Group on Thursday confirmed it is considering a plan to join with Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. in building a chip factory in the western Japanese prefecture of Kumamoto.

In an exclusive interview with Time magazine, TSMC chairman Mark Liu said his team has to triangulate different data points to decipher which customers were truly in need and which were stockpiling.

The Biden administration is pressuring companies involved in the semiconductor supply chain to be more transparent as the global chips shortage continues to wreak havoc across many industries, officials said.

Chinese tech giant Baidu said on Wednesday it had begun mass-producing second-generation Kunlun artificial intelligence (AI) chips, as it races to become a key player in the chip industry which Beijing is trying to strengthen.

Infineon chief executive Reinhard Ploss on Tuesday supported the idea of Taiwan Semiconductor (TSMC) building a chip fabrication plant in Germany, expressing a clear preference for its technology over that of Intel.

TSMC is finalizing a decision to put its first chip plant in Japan into operation as early as 2023, Nikkei has learned.

Taiwan's Foxconn and TSMC said on Monday they had reached deals to buy 10 million doses of Germany's BioNTech's COVID-19 vaccine, putting the total cost of the highly politicised deal at around $350 million.