TSMC approves $3.5 billion in spending for their new Arizona Foundry – TSMC in the USA

TSMC plans to open a new foundry within the US, having just approved $3.5 billion in spending to create a subsidiary in Arizona. In 2021, TSMC plans to start constructing new fabrications facilities in the US, with plans to enter high volume manufacturing in 2024. 

According to Tom’s Hardware, TSMC’s Arizona fab will receive $12 billion in investment between 2021 and 2029, with plans to employ 1,600 people directly. The facility will target initial production volumes of 20,000 wafer starts per month, with 5nm production being one of the primary focuses of the facility early on. 

Intel currently manufactures a lot of chips in Arizona, allowing TSMC to enter the area without having to create an entire supply chain. TSMC will be able to rely on a lot of the same suppliers as Intel, and that will have knock-on effects within Arizona’s local economy. TSMC plans to employ 1,600 people, but their suppliers could add thousands of indirect employees to that number within their supply chains. 

TSMC keeps its most advanced facilities within Taiwan, and Arizona is due to become the location of TSMC’s most advanced facility outside of the country. While 5nm will not be TSMC’s most advanced node in 2024, the facility could become a hot spot for TSMC’s US customers in the future. That said, Taiwan will remain at the core of TSMC’s business. 

Early on, TSMC’s Arizona subsidiary will become the ideal location for the USA to produce its military technology, allowing the nation to fabricate its more sensitive chip designs without using facilities outside of the country.  

 

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