Apple plans to begin sourcing some of its chips from a plant in Arizona beginning in 2024, according to a report from Bloomberg.
Apple CEO Tim Cook announced the move during a meeting with engineering employees in Germany as part of a recent tour of Europe.
“We’ve already made a decision to be buying out of a plant in Arizona, and this plant in Arizona starts up in ’24, so we’ve got about two years ahead of us on that one, maybe a little less,” Cook told the employees. “And in Europe, I’m sure that we will also source from Europe as those plans become more apparent,” he said at the meeting, which included Apple services chief Eddy Cue and Deirdre O’Brien, its head of retail and human resources.
While Cook did not provide details on the chips that Apple will source from Arizona or the company behind the new fabrication plant, Apple supplier TSMC is currently building a fabrication plant near Phoenix. The project kicked off in 2020 and is scheduled to start mass production on 4-nanometer chips in 2024. In July, TSMC hosted a topping-out ceremony for its new chip fabrication plant.
The $12 billion factory will be the first of its kind to mass-produce 5nm chips in the United States. All of Apple’s current chips, including the A14 Bionic and M1 chips, are fabricated using a 5nm process.
The Wall Street Journal last week reported that TSMC plans to open a second Arizona plant, with the $12 billion plant expected to fabricate next-generation 3-nanometer chips that will likely be used for future Apple devices.
Shares of TSMC climbed as much as 2.9% in Taiwan trading Wednesday after Bloomberg News reported on Cook’s remarks. Apple showed little movement.
TSMC’s stock raised 7.9% on Tuesday after disclosure by Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway Inc. that it had taken a stake in the company.
