TSMC is gearing up to hold an opening ceremony for its Fab 21 in
Arizona sometime in December 2024, reports [1]DigiTimes. The ceremony
will mark a major milestone in the company's international expansion
and the result of the CHIPS and Science Act implemented by the outgoing
Biden administration. It is expected to attract high-ranking attendees
and highlight its business and geopolitical significance.
This opening ceremony is rumored to be held on December 6, following
the recent U.S. election, positioning it as a business and political
landmark for U.S.-Taiwan relations and semiconductor strategy. The
event will include President-elect Donald Trump, President Joe Biden,
Arizona Governor Katie Hobbs, and TSMC founder Morris Chang. When the
fab shell was completed in 2022, the ceremony was also attended by TSMC
CEO C.C. Wei and leaders from Apple, AMD, and Nvidia, so it is
reasonable to expect some of TSMC's biggest customers to participate in
the upcoming event.
TSMC plans to invest around $65 billion in its Fab 21 campus in Arizona
and build three phases for the fab. So far, the company has received
$6.6 billion in direct subsidies, $5 billion in loans, and a potential
25% tax credit on investments.
TSMC's Fab 21 phase 1 is reportedly [2]already producing chips for
Apple using one of the supported process technologies: N5, N5P, N4,
N4P, and N4X. Following delays, the production facility will officially
start manufacturing chips for its American customers sometime [3]in
2025, so the upcoming opening ceremony is essentially a formality.
The Fab 21 Phase 2 shell is under construction and expected to be
completed shortly. TSMC's Fab 21 phase 2 will produce chips using the
company's N3 or N2 process technologies (3nm-class or 2nm-class). It is
[4]projected to come online in 2027–2028, depending on market
conditions and incentives provided by the U.S. government and Arizona.
Finally, Fab 21 phase 3 is expected to start production late this
decade or early next. At this point, it is too early to predict the
production technologies it will support, though we are likely talking
about 1nm-class nodes.
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References
1.
https://www.digitimes.com/news/a20241107PD237/tsmc-fab-arizona-production-2022.html
2.
https://www.tomshardware.com/pc-components/cpus/apples-mobile-chips-are-now-made-in-the-us-tsmc-produces-the-older-a16-bionic-at-its-arizona-fab
3.
https://www.tomshardware.com/tech-industry/tsmc-delays-3nm-arizona-fab-by-a-year-cites-lack-of-us-subsidies-and-waning-demand
4.
https://www.tomshardware.com/tech-industry/tsmc-delays-3nm-arizona-fab-by-a-year-cites-lack-of-us-subsidies-and-waning-demand
