As AI demand surges, Taichung’s industrial base deepens its move into the semiconductor supply chain, with significant investments from major manufacturers and an expanding network of upstream and downstream suppliers reshaping Taiwan’s tech landscape.
Taichung’s industrial base is expanding deeper into the semiconductor supply chain as artificial intelligence demand reshapes investment patterns across Taiwan. According to local reporting, companies in optics, equipment, packaging, testing and materials are all stepping up spending, with large manufacturers using the city as a base for new capacity and related technology development. The shift reflects how AI workloads are pulling in a wider range of suppliers beyond chipmakers themselves.
Among the most notable moves, Largan Precision, best known as the world’s largest smartphone lens maker, is said to have invested more than NT$8 billion this year to buy seven factory buildings in Taichung’s precision machinery and industrial parks. Taichung’s economic development bureau said the company is using its decades of alignment expertise and in-house automation know-how to move into semiconductor-related fields such as co-packaged optics, a technology that brings optical interconnects closer to chips to improve speed and efficiency.
The same trend is visible in equipment and packaging. Chichia Technologies, a semiconductor equipment maker, has been expanding its footprint with a NT$1.48 billion project to enlarge its Water Highway research centre and a second factory in the Jingke area, after semiconductor sales rose to 40% of revenue last year, according to local officials. Sunmax Semiconductor is investing more than NT$5.6 billion in a Taichung Harbour science park expansion that includes plant space, fully automated transfer lines and warehousing systems, while Hon Chuan Precision is spending NT$850 million on vertical plant expansion to support higher-end chip testing. Sheng Huang Technology is also building a smart new factory in Dadu at a cost of more than NT$500 million to raise capacity for ultra-clean inflating and clean-process equipment.
The supplier network is widening further upstream and downstream. Giants such as Gigalane have established production in Taichung Harbour to make high-purity chemicals for semiconductor manufacturing, while New Sail Industry set up a new plant in Wuci in July 2024 to produce key components for semiconductor process equipment and ultra-high-vacuum systems. San Fu Gas has also established a presence in the city to supply nitrogen and other industrial and electronic gases. Other companies, including Winmate, Quanta, Shuo-Ding, Heng Feng and YC Intelligent Technology, are developing capabilities in semiconductor equipment, wafer thinning, advanced packaging jigs, infrared detector packaging and automation. This build-out comes as TSMC continues to push ahead with advanced-node investment in Taiwan and abroad, including added 3-nanometre lines in southern Taiwan and a major US expansion announced in July 2026, underlining the scale of demand now supporting the wider ecosystem.
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