Apple partner TSMC to reportedly build 5nm chip factory in Arizona
Apple supplier Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. is set to announce that it plans to build an advanced chip factory in Arizona.
TSMC's headquarters in Hsinchu, Taiwan.
Taiwan-based TSMC is the world's largest contract manufacturer of silicon chipsets and has long been Apple's primary supplier of A-series chips.
Now, TSMC is said to be on the verge of announcing new plans to build out an advanced 5-nanometer facility in Arizona, The Wall Street Journal reported on Thursday.
The decision, reached by TSMC executives at a board meeting in Taiwan on Tuesday, could be announced as soon as Friday.
TSMC's new factory could be up and running by 2023, sources told the WSJ, adding that the U.S. departments of State and Commerce were involved in the plans. It's currently unclear if the company will receive financial incentives from the U.S., though a factory producing 5nm chips could cost more than $10 billion.
Apple is expected to move to 5nm processors with "iPhone 12" this year, later expanding utilization to other products like iPad and, for the first time, the Mac lineup.
News of the plans come as the U.S. grows more concerned about its reliance on supply chain infrastructure in Taiwan, China and South Korea for electronics and technology production.
On Monday, the Trump Administration was said to be discussing the possibility of building out chip fabrication plants in the U.S. with companies like TSMC and Intel.
TSMC's headquarters in Hsinchu, Taiwan.
Taiwan-based TSMC is the world's largest contract manufacturer of silicon chipsets and has long been Apple's primary supplier of A-series chips.
Now, TSMC is said to be on the verge of announcing new plans to build out an advanced 5-nanometer facility in Arizona, The Wall Street Journal reported on Thursday.
The decision, reached by TSMC executives at a board meeting in Taiwan on Tuesday, could be announced as soon as Friday.
TSMC's new factory could be up and running by 2023, sources told the WSJ, adding that the U.S. departments of State and Commerce were involved in the plans. It's currently unclear if the company will receive financial incentives from the U.S., though a factory producing 5nm chips could cost more than $10 billion.
Apple is expected to move to 5nm processors with "iPhone 12" this year, later expanding utilization to other products like iPad and, for the first time, the Mac lineup.
News of the plans come as the U.S. grows more concerned about its reliance on supply chain infrastructure in Taiwan, China and South Korea for electronics and technology production.
On Monday, the Trump Administration was said to be discussing the possibility of building out chip fabrication plants in the U.S. with companies like TSMC and Intel.
Comments
Thus starts the flood...
I’ll use this as an opp to give a big “ F*** Y** ” to Samsung and all the US employees who work for that criminal organization
Trump has zero power to demand US stops manufacturing in China. When he's gone in November none of this will be news anymore.
"When he's gone in November none of this will be news anymore" => You mean IF he's gone. The last election so many people thought he would lose and we know how that turned out.
It might make sense for defence contracts - but at a price (although defence budgets are fairly accommodating to the sums involved). As for everything else, and I guess 5G IoT is the main target looking forward, it's difficult to see how they can keep prices competitive against Asian manufacturing unless TSMC plans to distribute costs back across its other operations which would also make it less competitive in the long run (most IoT chips are either on 12nm or 14nm at the moment).
It is not difficult to imagine legislation forcing manufacturers to use IoT chips fabbed on U.S soil for any IoT devices sold within the U.S but the economics look touch with competitiveness in mind.
The PLA is a present and growing danger.
Of course, the real shame of it all is how Intel so totally dropped the ball and ceded US leadership in fab tech. I think it all goes back to their failure to win Apple's iPhone SOC business. The chip business is all about economies of scale. Intel missed out on a market far larger than the PC market. Andy Grove's mantra "only the paranoid survive" has been replaced with "only the complacent maximize margins"