TSMC to Open Chip Design Center in Munich, Boosting European Semiconductor Capabilities

TSMC to open up chip design center in Munich to help local chip developers

TSMC is set to open its first chip design center in Munich, Germany, in a bid to help local and European chip developers optimize their designs to its process technology, the company announced at its European Technology Symposium in Amsterdam, the Netherlands. The facility in Munich will perform multiple functions to simplify the implementation of chips on its process technologies, as well as helping partners on system-level design. Essentially, the center's competencies will span from basic assistance in the development of tiny microcontroller units (MCUs) made using mature process technologies for the automotive industry to design technology optimization (DTCO) of advanced processors for AI and HPC applications that rely on leading-edge production nodes. "We want to bring the best support to the European customer," said Kevin Zhang, Deputy Co-COO and Senior Vice President of Business Development and Global Sales, at the event. "Here we want to have the design team to be able to directly work with the customer under our fab here, so we can bridge the product design and the manufacturing together. Lots of time we use the term DTCO -- design technology co-optimization -- [so that is what we are going to do in Munich]. The development center in Munich will be the company's 10th facility of this kind, but the first one in Europe, which highlights the revival of European chip development in particular and the semiconductor industry in general. TSMC already has nine chip design centers across the world that are located in Canada, China, Japan, Taiwan, and the U.S. In addition, the world's largest contract maker of chips has Design Center Alliance (DCA) -- a global network of companies -- that provide chip implementation services as well as system-level design solutions. Ultimately, these companies can even design chips to order, something that TSMC's own design centers are not meant to do. TSMC -- along with its partners Bosch, Infineon, and NXP -- is currently building its first fab in Europe. The fab, which will be capable of building chips on TSMC's N12 and N16 (12nm and 16nm-class), is mainly aimed at MCUs, but will certainly make other types of chips. To perform and yield optimally, all chips nowadays require design optimizations that may go beyond what EDA software offers, which is why TSMC needs its design center in Europe. "It is not like you bring the technology there and you can do manufacturing for the rest of your life," said Zhang. "That does not work that way. You need to work closely with your end customer to continue to make an improvement. So, by having a design team right here in the heart of the semiconductor land in Europe, we can bridge the customer and the technology manufacturing closer."

TSMC will open a European chip design centre in Munich, Germany

AMSTERDAM, May 27 (Reuters) - Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (2330.TW), opens new tab, the world's largest contract chipmaker, will open a chip design centre in Munich, Germany, a company executive said on Tuesday. President of TSMC Europe, Paul de Bot, said at the company's 2025 Technology Symposium event that the Munich Design Centre would open during the third quarter of 2025. "It's intended to support European customers in designing high-density, high-performance, and energy-efficient chips with a focus on applications again in automotive, industrial, AI, and IoT," de Bot said. TSMC is building together with Infineon (IFXGn.DE), opens new tab, NXP (NXPI.O), opens new tab and Robert Bosch a new microchip manufacturing plant in Dresden, Germany, called European Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (ESMC). Reporting by Nathan Vifflin in Amsterdam, editing by Milla Nissi-Prussak Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles., opens new tab Suggested Topics:Artificial Intelligence

TSMC to open chip design centre in Munich, could later support AI development

Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC) will open a design centre in Munich by Q3 2025 to support European clients in developing advanced AI, automotive, and industrial chips. This complements TSMC's €10 billion Dresden plant, boosting Europe's semiconductor capabilities through its ESMC joint venture with Infineon, NXP, and Bosch.Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co, the world's largest contract chipmaker, said on Tuesday it will open a design centre in Munich, Germany, which could at a later date help develop chips via leading manufacturing processes for applications such as artificial intelligence. President of TSMC Europe, Paul de Bot, said at the company's 2025 Technology Symposium event that the Munich Design Centre would open during the third quarter of 2025. "It's intended to support European customers in designing high-density, high-performance, and energy-efficient chips with a focus on applications again in automotive, industrial, AI, and IoT," de Bot said. Europe is currently formulating a strategy to catch up with the U.S. and China on artificial intelligence. TSMC is building together with Infineon, NXP and Robert Bosch a new €10 billion ($11.33 billion) microchip manufacturing plant in Dresden, Germany, through a joint venture called European Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (ESMC). When asked if ESMC or the design centre could assist in meeting Europe's AI chips ambitions at a later stage, executive Kevin Zhang said TSMC has engaged conversations with its partners. "I'm all for building up the most semiconductor capability in Europe for AI applications... This design center obviously potentially can be leveraged to bring the leading node support," Zhang said in a press briefing with journalists, referring to advanced processes used to make AI chips, among others. The Munich centre will work on all ESMC nodes, not exclusively depending on the future customer base, he said. TSMC joins its largest customer in the Bavarian capital, Apple, which has invested €2 billion to build its largest engineering hub in Europe there. Dresden-based ESMC aims to manufacture chips using smaller manufacturing technology previously unavailable at European chipmakers like Infineon, STMicroelectronics, or NXP. "We have to be on the ground right here closer. We need to have people here to really directly engage with customers," Zhang added. ($1 = € 0.8823)

Taiwan Semiconductor To Build Chip Design Center In Germany: Report - Taiwan Semiconductor (NYSE:TSM)

Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. TSM plans to build a new chip-design center in Munich, Germany, to develop high-performance and energy-efficient chips for the automotive, industrial, and artificial intelligence sectors. The hub, expected to open in the third quarter of 2025, was selected for its proximity to European clients, the Wall Street Journal reported on Tuesday, citing a company spokesperson. Taiwan Semiconductor stock is down 2% year-to-date as it grapples with the Trump administration's tariff policies, prompting it to ramp up investment in the U.S. without incremental subsidies. Also Read: To Serve Exploding AI Chip Demand, Taiwan Semiconductor Plans 9 Advanced Factories The center will add to Taiwan Semiconductor's global network of nine design centers spanning Taiwan, mainland China, Japan, Canada and the U.S. Taiwan Semiconductor is building a 10 billion euro ($11.33 billion) microchip factory in the German city of Dresden as part of a joint venture with Infineon Technologies, Robert Bosch, and NXP Semiconductors NXPI called European Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. (ESMC). The Dresden facility will initially focus on 22-nanometre node chips, primarily for automotive microcontroller units, with potential future expansions to produce more advanced semiconductor technologies. Demand for chips in electric vehicles and industrial equipment has recently waned. The industry has been contending with an inventory glut as car makers and industrial equipment manufacturers stockpiled chips. Taiwan Semiconductor reported first-quarter net sales of $25.53 billion (839.25 billion New Taiwanese Dollars), up 41.6% year-over-year, topping the analyst consensus estimate of $23.92 billion. Net sales declined 3.4% quarter-over-quarter. Net income and earnings per share were $361.56 billion New Taiwanese Dollars and 13.94 New Taiwanese Dollars per share (or $2.12), topping the analyst consensus of $1.82. Taiwan Semiconductor's AI technology moat helped it expand its quarterly gross margins by 572 bps to 58.8%. Taiwan Semiconductor guided second-quarter 2025 revenue of $28.4 billion to $29.2 billion versus the $26.79 billion analyst estimate. It expects a gross margin of 57%-59%. Commenting on tariffs on April 17, 2025, CFO Wendell Huang remarked, "While we have not seen any changes in our customers' behavior so far, uncertainties and risks from the potential impact from tariff policies exist. We will continue to closely monitor the potential impact on the end market demand, and manage our business prudently." Price Action: TSM shares were trading lower by 0.77% to $196.15 premarket at last check Wednesday. Read Next: Taiwan Semiconductor's Arizona Factory Faces $441 Million Loss Amid Supply Chain, Labor Cost Challenges Image by Jack Hong via Shutterstock TSMTaiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co Ltd$196.00-0.85%Stock Score Locked: Want to See it? Benzinga Rankings give you vital metrics on any stock - anytime. Reveal Full ScoreEdge RankingsMomentum82.04Growth95.09QualityNot AvailableValue50.96Price TrendShortMediumLongOverviewNXPINXP Semiconductors NV$201.001.06%Market News and Data brought to you by Benzinga APIs

TSMC will open a European chip design centre in Munich, Germany

AMSTERDAM (Reuters) -Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co, the world's largest contract chipmaker, will open a chip design centre in Munich, Germany, a company executive said on Tuesday. President of TSMC Europe, Paul de Bot, said at the company's 2025 Technology Symposium event that the Munich Design Centre would open during the third quarter of 2025. "It's intended to support European customers in designing high-density, high-performance, and energy-efficient chips with a focus on applications again in automotive, industrial, AI, and IoT," de Bot said. TSMC is building together with Infineon, NXP and Robert Bosch a new microchip manufacturing plant in Dresden, Germany, called European Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (ESMC). (Reporting by Nathan Vifflin in Amsterdam, editing by Milla Nissi-Prussak)