TSMC starts construction of 5nm chip plant in Arizona
Apple partner Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. on Tuesday said construction of a new $12 billion chip plant has begun in Phoenix, Ariz., with the facility expected to produce wafers built on the company's 5-nanometer process.
TSMC CEO C.C. Wei announced the development during the company's annual symposium, which was held online for the second year in a row due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, reports Reuters.
Plans to build out the $12 billion chip foundry were confirmed last year, and TSMC in March arranged bond sale to partially fund the operation.
Wei on Tuesday said the project is moving forward on schedule and the fab should begin churning out 5nm wafers in 2024. A portion of that output volume could be dedicated to silicon based on new TSMC technology that is certified by automakers for use in areas like artificial intelligence.
Reports in May suggested TSMC is internally discussing the addition of five more fabs in Arizona, though it is unclear what customers those facilities will serve.
Looking ahead, TSMC is on track to start volume production of 3nm chips at its "Fab 18" plant in Tainan, Taiwan, in the second half of 2022, Reuters reports. Word of the company's 3nm plans first surfaced in June 2020, with later reports claiming Apple gobbled up output capacity for A- and M-series chips bound for iPhone, iPad and Mac.
Compared to current 5nm chips, the move to 3nm will increase performance between 10% and 15% while at the same time boosting energy savings from between 20% to 25%, TSMC said last year.
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TSMC CEO C.C. Wei announced the development during the company's annual symposium, which was held online for the second year in a row due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, reports Reuters.
Plans to build out the $12 billion chip foundry were confirmed last year, and TSMC in March arranged bond sale to partially fund the operation.
Wei on Tuesday said the project is moving forward on schedule and the fab should begin churning out 5nm wafers in 2024. A portion of that output volume could be dedicated to silicon based on new TSMC technology that is certified by automakers for use in areas like artificial intelligence.
Reports in May suggested TSMC is internally discussing the addition of five more fabs in Arizona, though it is unclear what customers those facilities will serve.
Looking ahead, TSMC is on track to start volume production of 3nm chips at its "Fab 18" plant in Tainan, Taiwan, in the second half of 2022, Reuters reports. Word of the company's 3nm plans first surfaced in June 2020, with later reports claiming Apple gobbled up output capacity for A- and M-series chips bound for iPhone, iPad and Mac.
Compared to current 5nm chips, the move to 3nm will increase performance between 10% and 15% while at the same time boosting energy savings from between 20% to 25%, TSMC said last year.
Follow all the details of WWDC 2021 with the comprehensive AppleInsider coverage of the whole week-long event from June 7 through June 11, including details of all the new launches and updates.
Stay on top of all Apple news right from your HomePod. Say, "Hey, Siri, play AppleInsider," and you'll get latest AppleInsider Podcast. Or ask your HomePod mini for "AppleInsider Daily" instead and you'll hear a fast update direct from our news team. And, if you're interested in Apple-centric home automation, say "Hey, Siri, play HomeKit Insider," and you'll be listening to our newest specialized podcast in moments.
Comments
One: Isn't TSMC having issues making chips in Taiwan because of the drought that's been happening there? If water can be such an issue, why are they building this plant in Arizona, the driest state in the US?
Two: By the time this plant goes online, 5nm is going to be old news. Why aren't they aiming for 3nm or better?
It means a steeple chaser is no good for the Melbourne Cup.
or for millennial kiddies a modern version might be: EV for the inner cities, 4WD diesel for work. The vehicles have different insides.
s TSMC will use 5nm processors for different applications/products compared with 3nm.
and maybe drought is relative to what climate you are used to.
https://www.isciences.com/blog/2021/05/15/isciences-worldwide-water-watch-list-month-2021-tprkn
Having a fab in the US is the greatest source of security for domestic chip supply.
As for the fab - you make what you can make. 3nm is still in the labs and production is somewhere off in the future - what they can make now is 5nm. If everything doesn't go sideways, they can build a 3nm fab when they know how to mass produce a 3nm product.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Uncle_Joe
I'm thinking, haven't heard anyone use "Uncle Joe" in relation to President Joe Biden; excepting you, but of course, "Uncle Joe" Stalin was a thing back before I was born.
As for Taiwan, I do hope that the U.S. and our allies stand by Democracy in Taiwan, even at the cost of U.S. lives. Taiwan doesn't belong to the People's Republic of China, no matter what China states. After what happened to Hong Kong, and Tibet, Taiwan deserves to survive as a vibrant democracy.
August 2, 2019
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-hongkong-protests-trump/trump-says-its-up-to-china-to-deal-with-hong-kong-riots-idUSKCN1US0OR
HONG KONG (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump has described protests in Hong Kong as “riots” that China will have to deal with itself, signaling a hands-off approach to the biggest political crisis gripping the former British colony in decades.
"Millions have taken to the streets in the past three months to protest against an extradition bill that would have allowed people to be sent to mainland China for trial in courts controlled by the Communist Party."
The protests are the most serious political crisis in Hong Kong since it returned to China 22 years ago. They also pose the greatest popular challenge to Chinese leader Xi Jinping since he came to power in 2012 and come as Xi already grapples with a Sino-U.S. trade war and tensions in the South China Sea.
Some activists have waved the U.S. flag during the demonstrations, while Beijing has accused U.S. officials of being behind the violent chaos and warned against interference.
Trump was asked by reporters before leaving for a campaign event in Ohio on Thursday whether he was concerned by media reports that China might intervene in Hong Kong and said the city had experienced “riots for a long period of time”.
“Hong Kong is a part of China, they’ll have to deal with that themselves,” he said.
Trump’s labeling of the demonstrations as riots is certain to rile activists in the Asian financial center who have called on the city’s government to drop the use of the word to describe the protests.
It was the Extradition Bill that was behind the protests, and it wasn't until about three months later that President Donald Trump actually reversed himself on Hong Kong;
November 28, 2019
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-china-50581862
An explanation of why Hong Kong reacted;
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-china-49317695
For the record, neither President Joe Biden, nor Congress, appear to be interested in reversing the policies that President Donald Trump initially placed on the PRC.
I accidentally posted without responding to GeorgeBMac, but I assure you, I am 100% behind Taiwan surviving as a democracy, and independent of the PRC/Mainland China.
In the end, the PRC crushed Hong Kong's democracy, reneging on its agreement with the UK, and GeorgeBMac is happy about that.
As for influence, try as China might, they are not getting positive results from their Wolf Warrior Diplomacy, and Western nations have begun to turn away from China. If anything, China's influence operations, along with initiatives of the current U.S. Administration, appears to be coalescing around growing alliances to contain China.
As for immigration, that is precisely why the U.S. has not yet had an aging problem of its own, even as the U.S. birth replacement rate has slowed. The U.S. still allows immigration.
You need to read more; start here;
https://clas.berkeley.edu/research/immigration-economic-benefits-immigration
As for the Democrats "inciting" Hong Kong protests, that's just false. Both parties, and people from around the world supported Hong Kong.
That pretty well sums up the rhetoric from the China haters club of America. It has just enough truth in it to sound credible for those looking for reasons to justify their hate.