VisionPower Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (VSMC), a chipmaking joint venture between Taiwan’s Vanguard International Semiconductor (VIS) and Dutch group NXP Semiconductors, opened its first factory in Singapore on September 28, a $7.8 billion investment.
In a statement on Monday, VSMC said the plant targets specialty semiconductors and chips optimized for functions such as power management, sensing and control, rather than the leading-edge logic that runs AI.
Its output can serve at automotive, industrial, consumer, and mobile uses, including embedded flash memory and power-management and automotive systems. The process technology is licensed from TSMC.
The 300-millimeter wafer fab in Tampines was inaugurated less than two years after breaking ground. At full capacity by 2029, it can produce about 44,000 wafers a month on 40- to 130-nanometre nodes and to create around 1,600 jobs.
The venture, formed in September 2024, is 60 percent owned by Vanguard and 40 percent by NXP. VIS operates the plant and NXP receives dedicated capacity for its automotive and industrial chips.
The initial buildout is budgeted at about $7.8 billion, with VIS contributing $2.4 billion and NXP with $1.6 billion, plus further funding and loans.
VSMC said about 75 percent of the new jobs would be professional, managerial and technical roles, including engineers, chemists, and data scientists. It has signed seven agreements with Singapore polytechnics and universities on internships, hiring, curriculum, and research.
Minister for Trade and Industry Tan See Leng highlighted the construction pace a record for Singapore. The fab would reinforce the country’s role in the global chip supply chain, he noted. The semiconductor industry can double to $1.6 trillion by 2030, driven by electrification, connected devices, and industrial automation, the minister added.
The plant adds to Singapore’s decades-old specialty-chip industry and reflects a wider push by chipmakers to spread manufacturing across regions after pandemic-era shortages. NXP said the venture gave it more control over supply for its automotive customers.
Singapore unveils SG Semiconductor to strengthen its role in the global semiconductor ecosystem