The Alliance: Why TSMC Built its Fortress in Japan

This feature-length documentary provides a definitive explanation of the landmark partnership between TSMC and Japan.

Footage: Shutterstock

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2 Comments

  1. I'm a Youtube Premium member. Your "members only" videos do not play in the background. Is there a way to fix this? If this cannot be fixed, then I will quit my membership to your channel. I would like to pay to stay a member, but I need background play. Let me know. Thanks.

  2. Japan once dominated the semiconductor industry in the 1980s, holding nearly half of the global market. However, the collapse of companies such as Elpida and the restructuring of Toshiba’s memory business significantly weakened Japan’s position in semiconductor manufacturing. As a result, Japan lost decades of accumulated large-scale manufacturing experience. While TSMC’s new fabs in Japan may help restore parts of the semiconductor ecosystem, rebuilding a full manufacturing workforce and supply chain could take many years, possibly a generation.

    Japan’s DRAM industry declined after the collapse of Elpida in 2012, while Korean firms such as Samsung Electronics and Hynix Semiconductor (now SK Hynix) expanded aggressively in memory manufacturing and captured a growing share of the global DRAM market.

    Despite the decline in domestic chip manufacturing, Japan remains a global leader in key semiconductor materials and equipment, including photoresists, silicon wafers, and specialty chemicals. This strength in the upstream supply chain is one reason companies like TSMC have chosen to invest in new fabs in Japan.

    Joseph Y. Lee
    Former R&D Engineer at Samsung Electro-Mechanics