Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC) has denied any immediate plans to establish a semiconductor fab in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), following reports by The Wall Street Journal that the company, along with Samsung, was in preliminary talks to build a large-scale wafer fab in the region. The proposed project, reportedly funded by the UAE government and potentially exceeding US$100 billion, would dramatically reshape the global semiconductor industry and bolster AI investments in the Middle East.
While TSMC acknowledged ongoing discussions to promote semiconductor industry development, it emphasized that the company is focused on its existing international projects and currently has no specific plans for new overseas investments. TSMC’s global expansion strategy has been centered around projects in the U.S., Japan, and Europe, where significant investments have already been finalized.
Industry insiders suggest that TSMC’s recent visit to the Middle East was more likely related to business development, not the establishment of a new facility. The EMEA region, which includes the Middle East, accounted for just 4% of TSMC’s revenue in the second quarter of 2023, far behind regions like the U.S. and Japan.
Despite the high-level talks, both technical challenges and other obstacles mean that any concrete plans for a semiconductor fab in the UAE remain uncertain.
