India, Jan. 6 -- While TSMC's Arizona expansion races ahead, its Japan operations are moving at a slower pace, drawing close attention. Plans for Kumamoto Fab 2, however, may be shifting. A Nikkei report had suggested a move to 4nm-originally planned for 6nm and 7nm-but Mirror Media now reports a bolder plan: the fab could skip 6nm entirely and go straight to 2nm.

According to Mirror Media, TSMC has submitted an internal assessment to Chairman C.C. Wei. If implemented, Kumamoto Fab 2 would shift from primarily serving Japanese auto clients to focusing on major AI chip customers such as NVIDIA and AMD, as noted by the report.

Arizona profits, Kumamoto bleeds

The rationale is clear: TSMC's financial report shows that in the first three q...