Photo: Jakub Pabis / Pexels
Vanguard considers second Singapore chip plant as first fab sells out before full production
The TSMC affiliate's joint venture with NXP saw its initial 44,000 wafers-per-month capacity booked solid, prompting expansion talks barely two years into operations.
Vanguard International Semiconductor hasn’t even hit full volume production at its first Singapore fab, and it’s already thinking about building another one. When your entire initial capacity sells out a year ahead of schedule, that’s less of a decision and more of a math problem.
The TSMC affiliate, which operates a joint venture with NXP Semiconductors called VisionPower Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (VSMC), inaugurated its first 300mm wafer fabrication facility in Tampines, Singapore on September 28, 2026. The plant was built in under two years.
A fab that filled up before it turned on
The initial phase capacity of roughly 44,000 wafers per month is completely spoken for. Full utilization is now expected by 2028, a full year earlier than original projections suggested.
VIS chairman Leuh Fang flagged the expansion possibility back in May 2026, noting that demand was climbing faster than anyone had modeled. The company is now evaluating plans for a second wafer fab on the island nation.
The first facility’s investment came in at approximately $6.7B, actually below the original $7.8B estimate. That $1.1B reduction reflected a strategic pivot in the facility’s focus, including a shift to incorporate silicon interposer production licensed from TSMC, using 30-40nm technology.
AI, tech, and the markets they move—in one daily briefing.
Daily. Free. Join 34,000+ readers across crypto, finance, and policy.
Silicon interposers are the connective tissue in advanced chip packaging, particularly for AI applications. Think of them as the sophisticated circuit boards that let multiple chips talk to each other inside a single package.
Why Singapore, and why now
The fab processes specialty chips ranging from 130nm to 40nm. These aren’t the bleeding-edge chips that grab headlines. They’re the workhorses that power everything from car braking systems to industrial equipment to the packaging layers that make advanced AI chips possible.
TSMC holds a 27% stake in VIS. The project has created approximately 1,600 jobs so far. A second fab would presumably generate a comparable employment boost.
Volume production at the first fab is targeted for Q1 2027. How quickly that ramp proceeds, and whether it validates the demand projections that justified the investment, will likely determine the timeline for any second facility announcement.