Apple and Nvidia will be the first customers of TSMC’s chip factory in the U.S. state of Arizona, people familiar with the matter said, according to Nikkei Asia. It is reported that the plant will start production as early as the end of next year.
TSMC will produce 4-nanometer chips at its Arizona plant in 2024, urged by U.S. customers such as Apple, people familiar with the matter said, according to a Bloomberg report last week, adding that the company is expected to announce the new plan when U.S. President Joe Biden visits the plant Tuesday.
TSMC initially planned to produce 20,000 wafers a month in Arizona, but now aims to double its capacity and produce more advanced chips there, the sources said. The initial plan was to build the chips using the same 5nm and 4nm process technology TSMC currently uses to produce the iPhone 14 and iPhone 14 Pro processor chips. Under the new plan, the Arizona facility will eventually produce another 20,000 wafers per month using 3-nanometer technology. Previously TSMC founder Chang Chung-Mou also confirmed that the Arizona plant will also produce 3nm chips, but the timing has not yet been determined.
Sources said that the investment in 3nm expansion may be larger than the $12 billion TSMC invested in the first phase of the plant, but the capacity will be further adjusted according to customer demand.
Earlier, Apple CEO Tim Cook mentioned during a meeting with German employees that “Apple has decided that some of the chips will be sourced from the Arizona factory, which will be operational from 2024. Apple’s latest chips are currently manufactured using the 5nm process, and the shift to more advanced processes will further improve performance and energy efficiency.
Samsung and Intel are also massively expanding their chip production footprint in the United States. Samsung is building a $17 billion chip factory in Texas, while Intel is building a new $20 billion factory in Arizona and another $20 billion factory in Ohio.
