TSMC and Apple Partner to Build $12B Chip Plant in Arizona

Urian B., Tech Times 02 June 2021, 12:06 am

TSMC and Apple partnered up and announced the general construction of their new $12 billion chip plant in Phoenix Arizona along with the facility which is now expected to produce wafers built on the company's very own 5-nanometer process. With the new plant, the company aims to help combat the shortage and allow them to produce more electronics.

TSMC $12 Billion Chip Foundry

Wei, the Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. CEO noted that the development during the company's current annual symposium, which was reportedly held online for the second year, is currently in a row due to the ongoing pandemic, as reported by Reuters.

The company's plans to build out a massive $12 billion chip foundry were previously confirmed a year before. Back in March, TSMC also arranged a bond sale for the company to be able to partially fund the upcoming operation.

TSMC to Add 5 More Fabs in Arizona

Wei noted on Tuesday that the project is finally moving forward on its schedule and the official fab should start churning out 5nm wafers some time in 2024. A certain portion of that output volume could actually be dedicated to silicon based on the new TSMC technology that is actually certified by automakers for use in a number of areas like AI or artificial intelligence.

According to the story by Apple Insider, reports previously in May actually suggested that TSMC was internally discussing adding five more fabs over in Arizona. As of the moment, it is still unclear which types of customers will those facilities be serving.

TSMC 5nm Chips

Looking forward, the company is now on track to start the volume production of its 3nm chips at its supposed Fab 18 plant located in Tainan, Taiwan, in the second half of 2022, according to the report by Reuters. The word of the company's tiny 3nm plans first started surfacing back in June of 2020.

Later reports even started claiming that Apple had gobbled up the output capacity for its A- and M-series chips that were bound for its popular products like the iPad, iPhone, and Mac. Compared to the current 5nm chips, the bold move to the 3nm will be able to increase performance between 10% and 15% while still being able to boost energy savings by a whopping 20% to 25% according to the statement of TSMC last year.

Global Chip Shortage

With the global chip shortage, boosting manufacturing capacities has been one of the biggest concerns of a number of tech companies. The lack of chips has even affected the overall performance of a number of large companies all trying to keep up with the demand.

The odd thing about electronics as well as a few other industries is that they rely heavily on chips and with a lack of supply, they will be forced to launch less products due to the lack of material. Apple, however, is now planning to be ahead of the curve with its upcoming manufacturing plant.

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Writte by Urian B.