TSMC invests in VIS Singapore wafer plant, which is now operational and planning to build a second facility

According to a report by Nikkei, chip manufacturer VIS, in which TSMC (TSM.US) holds a stake, held an inauguration ceremony on Monday in Singapore for its first advanced chip manufacturing plant and is already planning the construction of a second facility. Driven by the boom in artificial intelligence infrastructure, the new plant’s production capacity was “sold out” as soon as it came online. The wafer fab, named VSMC, is a joint venture between VIS and European chip manufacturer NXP. The plant began trial production in June and took only 18 months from groundbreaking to trial production—much faster than the typical timeframe of over two years required to build a chip factory. VIS stated that the yield rate of the first batch of chips is at least 99%. The plant is scheduled to begin mass production in early 2027. The facility will also help TSMC produce crucial “interposers” for advanced chip packaging, serving as a substrate that connects different types of chips and catering to leading AI chip makers such as Nvidia, Google, and Broadcom. TSMC is the largest shareholder of VIS, holding approximately 19% of its shares.