Between sanctions against China (opens in a new tab) and US CHIPS law could slow business in Taiwan (opens in a new tab), the semiconductor industry is poised for a big upheaval. Of course, much of this was orchestrated by the United States to attract more businesses to the country. Europe has done much the same with its own act, and while Taiwan will likely continue to dominate (opens in a new tab) the semiconductor industry for some time to come, we’re starting to see some slight changes.
The Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co, or TSMC, is one of the biggest producers of chips, especially when it comes to advanced manufacturing. According to NikkeiAsia (opens in a new tab), TSMC is set to bring some of that power to the United States by manufacturing its 4nm chips at a new factory in Arizona. This despite previous statements by TSMC founder Morris Chang (opens in a new tab)claiming that US-based manufacturing would be too expensive.
TSMC already has customers lined up for the US-based factory, and those aren’t small names either. Apple and Nvidia are expected to be two of the first to have chips manufactured at the new factory, with other US developers like AMD also in talks to have their turn in home facilities.
The installation of TSMC on North American soil is a huge victory for the CHIPS Act, proving that it can already tempt high-profile companies with the various government subsidies. This push to have advanced semiconductor manufacturing capabilities in the United States has been massive and is seen as vital to the future of building technology. As such, it’s no surprise that President Biden is set to attend a ceremony as the first equipment is installed at the facility.
Originally, the Arizona factory was only designed to build 5nm and 4nm chips for things like the iPhone 14 series, at about 20,000 wafers per month. This new plan means that the fab will pump cutting-edge 3nm wafers at higher capacity. Getting these highly advanced chips manufactured in the United States seems to be exactly the kind of thing the government was hoping for. Especially since they are currently only produced by TSMC, Samsung and Intel.
But it is also very likely that this investment was not cheap. TSMC as a company has already poured $12 billion into the initial plant plan alone. There are currently no numbers on what it took to get that 4nm fab down to a 3nm fab, but I guess that’s a hard number to figure out. Here’s hoping it’s scalable with 2nm chips due out in 2026.