TSMC’s future processor factory in Arizona is set to receive visits from President Biden and officials from Apple, Nvidia and other customers. It will produce some of the most sophisticated chips in terms of fineness of engraving.
Apple and Nvidia are well positioned to become the first and largest customers of this facility, which is emerging from the ground near Phoenix, Arizona, says Nikkei Asia.
Exclusive supplier to Apple in processors as well as to much of the industry, TSMC planned to produce 20,000 wafers per month – the wafers that contain the chips – but this quantity could actually be doubled and the chips more sophisticated than they originally were. planned.
The goal was to produce processors engraved at 5 and 4 nanometers, which the current iPhones use, but this second tranche of 20,000 water could be engraved in 3 nm.
The decision to go for this engraving process was recently confirmed by Moris Chang, the founder of TSMC. Good news that brings less good news, Chang warned that production costs for these “Made in America” chips would be 50% higher than in Taiwan.
This type of investment on American soil for the production of advanced processors is part of the Biden administration’s goal to reduce the dependence of the country’s big companies on China. TSMC manufactures in Taiwan, but the island is under constant threat from its powerful neighbor.
Apple will diversify its supply chain in Europe and the US
Samsung is also building a factory in the United States with an investment of about 17 billion in Texas, and Intel has two planned in Arizona and Ohio for 20 billion each.
TSMC’s machinery and equipment was supposed to start arriving in Arizona in September, but Covid has slowed operations and it’s not until December that this phase finally begins. It will be the occasion for a ceremony where President Biden will be present. Officials from Apple, Nvidia, Arm, among others, will also attend this event.
Once the equipment is in place, it will take another year of testing and fine-tuning to get it fully operational and ready to produce in industrial quantities.
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