Apple chipmaker Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC) has begun construction on its third chip fabrication facility in Arizona. The third facility does not yet have an announced completion date.
The new Phoenix facility is part of a pledge TSMC made in March for a $100 billion investment in the American semiconductor industry over the next four years.
The new plant is being positioned as a major part of TSMC’s effort to make chips for Apple and other technology firms inside the United States. TSMC’s investment is expected to create 40,000 construction jobs over the next four years, as well as tens of thousands of high-tech jobs, driving over $200 billion in indirect output across Arizona in the coming decade.
In a press release from the U.S. Department of Commerce quoted Apple CEO Tim Cook:
We’re proud to support the high-skilled American jobs of tomorrow. As TSMC Arizona’s first and largest customer, we’re excited for the future of American innovation and the incredible opportunities it will create.
Currently, TSMC fabricates the majority of chips sold to Apple in its facilities located in Taiwan. Due to the Taiwanese firm’s company policy, as well as export restrictions by the Taiwanese government, the company restricts the manufacture of its most advanced fabrication technologies to its Taiwan-based plants. That includes the 3-nanometer processes used to make Apple’s A18 and M4 chips
TSMC’s Arizona plants are currently limited to producing slightly older chips. The plants are expected to produce 4-nanometer chips, including the A16 Bionic and S9, which are used in Apple’s iPhone 15 and Apple Watch Ultra 2.
During TSMC’s earnings call earlier this month, TSMC CEO Dr. C.C. Wei told the call participants that production yields at the company’s first Arizona plant are now matching those in Taiwan. Operations at the second plant, which began construction in 2022, are currently ramping up, and the plant is expected to become fully operational by 2028.
