By Douglas Busvine
BERLIN (Reuters) -Infineon Chief Executive Reinhard Ploss on Tuesday supported the thought of Taiwan Semiconductor (TSMC) building a chip fabrication plant in Germany, expressing a transparent preference for its technology over that of Intel.
“It would be a stimulating idea to possess TSMC in Germany,” Ploss told reporters, while declining to comment directly on reports the dominant contract chip manufacturer was in talks on building a plant there.
Responding to the reports, TSMC said last month it had been too early to mention whether it might build a semiconductor plant in Germany which talks were in their early stages.
TSMC has flagged plans to create new plants in both the us and Japan as a part of a broader move to locate production closer to key clients to scale back risks arising from tensions between Taiwan and China.
Industry sources say TSMC has been in talks with a gaggle comprising Infineon, Robert Bosch and NXP on building a plant to serve their need for mature chip formats utilized in core markets just like the automotive industry.
Speculation has centered on the likelihood that TSMC would site a replacement facility near Dresden, the hub of Europe’s largest semiconductor cluster. Infineon and Bosch both have plants in Dresden.
All three have declined to discuss potential cooperation with TSMC, which comes as EU industry czar Thierry Breton is pushing for multi-billion-dollar investments to double Europe’s share of worldwide chip production over subsequent decade.
Ploss, asked a few push by Intel CEO Pat Gelsinger to win EU aid for a leading-edge plant in Europe, said the U.S. chip maker did not have an in depth technological fit with Infineon. against this , TSMC did.
“The technology that TSMC produces is closer to ours,” he said in response to a reporter’s questions. Infineon earlier reported results for the fiscal third quarter that showed tight capacity constraints weighing on sales growth.