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Re:

TSMC pushes ahead with Fab 14 in Taiwan; China production remains separate and unconfirmed

Fab 14 is in Tainan, Taiwan, while TSMC’s Shanghai and Nanjing fabs are separate China facilities. Current official disclosures do not confirm a new Fab 14 production plan in China.
From TheFinanceBase Team3 min to read
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TSMC Fab 14 is an operating 12-inch wafer fab in Tainan, Taiwan—not a facility in China. TSMC does operate separate fabs in Shanghai and Nanjing, but the current company sources available do not confirm a new Fab 14 production operation or transfer to China. The China-plans wording in the original headline should therefore be treated as unverified until a dated company announcement or originating report is identified.

Where is TSMC Fab 14?

Fab 14 is located in the Southern Taiwan Science Park in Tainan, Taiwan. TSMC’s 2025 Form 20-F lists commercial production as beginning in 2004, and the company’s current GIGAFAB facility page includes Fab 14 among its six operating 12-inch GIGAFAB sites.

The Form 20-F reports that Fab 14’s most advanced technology in volume production was 16 nm at the end of 2025. That is a dated facility disclosure, not a claim that every Fab 14 phase uses the same process technology.

What expansion did TSMC announce for Fab 14?

On April 9, 2012, TSMC announced that it had broken ground on Phase 5 of Fab 14 at the South Taiwan Science Park. The company described Phase 5 as a future 20 nm-capable fab and scheduled volume production for early 2014. It also described Phase 6 as planned.

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Those figures and dates belong to the 2012 announcement. TSMC’s later corporate timeline records Fab 14 Phases 5 and 6 beginning production, providing a retrospective confirmation that the planned expansion proceeded. They should not be read as a current capacity or schedule announcement.

At the time of the 2012 release, TSMC said Phases 1–4 had capacity of 550,000 12-inch wafers per quarter. That is a historical company figure rather than a current estimate. Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Dr. Morris Chang said then: “TSMC will continue to invest in Taiwan and fortify its trinity of strengths – technology leadership, manufacturing excellence, and customer trust,” a statement about that 2012 expansion, not a new 2026 comment.

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What facilities does TSMC operate in China?

TSMC’s 2025 Form 20-F identifies two China facilities that are separate from Fab 14:

Facility Location Relationship to Fab 14 Established or production milestone
Fab 14 Tainan, Taiwan Operating Taiwan 12-inch fab Commercial production began in 2004
Fab 10 Shanghai, China Separate China facility TSMC’s timeline says the Shanghai operation began production in 2004
Fab 16 Nanjing, China Separate China facility TSMC Nanjing Company Limited was established in 2016

The similar “Fab” naming does not mean these sites are phases of one plant. Fab 14 remains the Tainan site, while Fab 10 and Fab 16 are distinct operations in China.

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Is TSMC moving Fab 14 production to China?

No current official source reviewed establishes that move. TSMC’s latest Form 20-F continues to identify Fab 14 in Tainan and lists Shanghai Fab 10 and Nanjing Fab 16 separately. The evidence supports the existence of China-based manufacturing, but not a newly announced plan to relocate Fab 14 production there.

An August 23, 2005 TSMC statement said the company had no plans at that time to build other 12-inch fabs in mainland China while expanding Fab 12 and Fab 14. That was a position stated in 2005; it neither proves nor disproves what TSMC may plan today.

How large is TSMC’s manufacturing network?

TSMC’s current GIGAFAB page reports six operating 12-inch GIGAFAB facilities with combined capacity exceeding 13 million 12-inch-equivalent wafers in 2025. Separately, the 2025 Form 20-F reports total annual capacity exceeding 17 million 12-inch-equivalent wafers. These figures have different scopes—GIGAFAB facilities versus TSMC’s total capacity—so they should not be combined or treated as competing estimates.

What this means for readers tracking semiconductor companies

  • Geography matters: Fab 14’s expansion history is a Taiwan story. China production belongs to separate Shanghai and Nanjing facilities.
  • Dates matter: The Phase 5 schedule, 20 nm description and 550,000-wafer quarterly figure come from 2012 and are not current operating guidance.
  • Do not infer a relocation: The presence of China fabs does not establish that Fab 14 is moving or that a new Fab 14 China project has been approved.
  • Check the originating report: Any claim of a new China plan should be matched to a dated TSMC announcement, regulatory filing or clearly identified report before being treated as confirmed.
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Bottom line on the headline

TSMC has pushed Fab 14 forward through multiple phases in Tainan, and that facility is operating today. TSMC also manufactures in China through separate fabs in Shanghai and Nanjing. The available current official disclosures do not substantiate a new Fab 14 production plan in China, so the headline’s second clause remains unconfirmed.

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