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TSMC CEO says Arizona fabs won't manufacture latest-gen chips before Taiwan

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Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company is set to start making even more advanced chips in the U.S. starting early 2025, however, those won't be the latest and the greatest, the company's CEO says. The chips that will be made this year will be based on the 4nm architecture, unlike the ones being made in Taiwan, which is 2nm.

TSMC had originally planned to manufacture just 5nm chips in the U.S. when it was planning the Arizona facility, back in 2022. However, due to the increasing demand, it also made plans to accommodate the 4nm chips. TSMC's Arizona facility is spread out into three fabs (fabrication units), the second and third of which are still under construction and will produce 3nm chips, while production of 5nm chips has already started on the first one.

Despite that, TSMC CEO and Chairman C.C. Wei expressed challenges with the U.S. operations. He said to Reuters that building a new factory takes at least twice as long as in Taiwan.

"Every step requires a permit, and after the permit is approved, it takes at least twice as long as in Taiwan."

Although the factories in the U.S. have faced delays, there's still some good news about the quality of the chips being produced. The yield rates (percentage of usable chips produced) are already better than those at similar plants in Taiwan, by about four percentage points.

Apple is expected to be one of the major customers for TSMC's Arizona facility, which is already making chips for the iPhone. Nvidia is also anticipated to be among the first customers that needs chips for AI applications.

TSMC has invested over $65 billion in its Arizona fabs and it is projected to generate around 6,000 direct high-tech jobs, as well as more than 20,000 construction jobs over its development period.

Source: Reuters

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