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TSMC to build a $12 billion advanced semiconductor plant in Arizona with U.S. government support
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co., the world's largest contract semiconductor foundry, said today that it plans to build an advanced chip foundry in Arizona with support from the state and the United States federal government.
The announcement follows a Wall Street Journal report earlier this week that White House officials were in talks with TSMC and Intel to build foundries in the U.S., as part of its effort to reduce reliance on chip factories in Asia. Based in Hsinchu, Taiwan, TSMC provides chip components for many of the world's largest semiconductor companies and its U.S. clients include Apple and Qualcomm.
The plant, scheduled to start production of chips in 2024, will enable TSMC's American customers to fabricate their semiconductor products domestically. It will use the company's 5-nanometer technology and is expected to create 1,600 jobs and have the capacity to produce 20,000 wafers a month.
The U.S.-China trade war, national security concerns, geopolitical unrest and the COVID-19 pandemic have all underscored the shortfalls of relying on foundries located abroad and international supply chains.
The U.S. government has reportedly been in talks with TSMC for months, though one sticking point for the company was the high cost of building a new foundry. TSMC chairman Mark Liu told the New York Times in October that the project would require major subsidies because it is more expensive to operate a factory in the U.S. than in Taiwan.
Also at AnandTech, The Verge, CNN, South China Morning Post, Wccftech, and Bloomberg.
Previously: U.S. Attempting to Restrict TSMC Sales to Huawei
Washington in Talks with Chipmakers about Building U.S. Factories
Related: TSMC Holds Groundbreaking Ceremony for "5nm" Fab, Production to Begin in 2020
TSMC Has Started Development of a "2nm" Process Node
(Score: 5, Insightful) by richtopia on Friday May 15 2020, @07:34PM (1 child)
The article mentions that TSMC already has an 8" fab in Camas, Washington. Which is a 45 minute drive from Intel in Hillsboro. Now they are promising to build a next gen fab in Arizona, which will probably be a hop, skip, and a jump away from Intel's Chandler site.
I cannot blame them. Even if we ignore concerns about sniping talent, the area already has suppliers and infrastructure in place to support a large cleanroom.
(Score: 1, Touché) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday May 16 2020, @04:33AM
Just curious what your concerns are about "sniping talent"... That current Intel workers may have a greater selection of employment opportunities?