The Taiwanese company GlobalWafers announced on June 27 that it will set up a factory in Sherman, Texas. This will produce 300 millimeter silicon wafers, essential for the manufacture of semiconductors. This news rewards the efforts of the United States to consolidate its semiconductor industry, while supply difficulties persist. Nothing is set in stone since Congress has yet to validate the Chips Act to guarantee funding.
GlobalWafers wants to address supply issues
With ever-increasing demand, investments in the semiconductor industry run into billions of dollars. Recently, the Taiwanese leader in the sector, TSMC, began construction of a factory in Arizona for 12 billion dollars. For its part, the manufacturer GlobalWafers is also banking on the United States by investing 5 billion dollars in its new American factory, the second after that of Saint Peters in the State of Missouri, built in 1959. The construction of the new Texas site should start by the end of 2022.
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The company’s board chair, Doris Hsu, explains that with “thehe global chip shortage and current geopolitical concerns, GlobalWafers is seizing the opportunity to address the semiconductor supply issue affecting the United States by building a 300 millimeter silicon wafer factory “.
This should make the United States less dependent on Asia, which according to a 2021 White House report accounted for 92% of the world’s supply of advanced semiconductors. The plant, however, will not be completed until at least 2025, but promises to create 1,500 jobs in Texas. However, the establishment of the factory on American soil depends on the American Congress.
Installation dependent on Chips Act funding
The Chips Act is a law supported by the Biden administration, which represents funding of 52 billion dollars to facilitate the installation of semiconductor factories on American soil. Congress, which must agree on this piece of legislation, is dragging its feet. The Taiwanese manufacturer says it needs this funding to set up in the United States. ” If the Chips Act doesn’t pass, we’ll have to turn to South Korea explained Mark England, CEO of GlobalWafers.
GlobalWafers’ investment is conditional on the implementation of the Chips Acts. Gina Raimondo, Secretary of Commerce of the United States, argues that ” this agreement will disappear, if Congress does not act “. For her, it is in the interest of the country to make things happen, since it represents only 10 to 12% of the market share of semiconductors in the world. Intel had also expressed annoyance with Congress’ inaction and raised the specter of the industry relocating to Europe with multi-billion dollar projects.