Semiconductor industry insiders reckon that TSMC leadership has revised its production strategies for a Japan-based fabrication site. The Taiwanese foundry business owns a majority stake in Japan Advanced Semiconductor Manufacturing (JASM). This partnership lead to a "Fab 23 phase 1" plant coming online a year ago, in the Kumamoto Prefecture. This factory is tasked with producing past-gen-sized wafers; at best on a 12 nm process node. A neighboring "phase 2" foundry is still under construction, but fresh inside track info proposes that certain activities have been put on hold. Initially, the "Fab 23 phase 2" (also known as "JASM phase 2") was categorized as a 6 nm and 7 nm chip production specialist, with building work expected to end by 2027. Rumors from late 2023 indicated company bigwigs "mulling" over a jump up to an N4 process. This year's surging demand for AI-grade hardware has reportedly prompted another reassessment of JASM production outlooks.

Nikkei Asia alleges that TSMC is "considering using its second plant in Japan to make more advanced chips than originally planned." According to publication's unnamed sources, the still in-progress phase 2 site could take on the challenge of dealing in N4 and N5. Lately, demand for 6 nm and 7 nm products has diminished. Tom's Hardware has looked into the latest claims, their resultant report highlights a major pause of construction: "one interesting thing to note about TSMC's Fab 23 phase 2 is that while it entered the early phase of physical build-out in late October (according to Nikkei), photos taken at the site in November showed cranes, excavators, and piledrivers on site. However, images captured in early December reveal that nearly all heavy equipment has since been removed. Also, suppliers were notified that work would pause, although no reasons were provided." Additionally, Nikkei's insiders claim that new equipment orders are on hold—the two Japanese sites will not require any additional tools "throughout 2026."