- Apple Inc (NASDAQ:AAPL) and Nvidia Corp (NASDAQ:NVDA) will likely be two of the first customers for Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company Ltd’s (NYSE:TSM) new plant in Arizona.
- The plant will likely begin making some of the most advanced chips as early as the end of 2023, Nikkei Asia reports.
- Apple emerged as the most crucial first-wave customer when the plant began production, with Nvidia likely to follow suit.
- Other top U.S. chip developers, including Advanced Micro Devices, Inc (NASDAQ:AMD) and Xilinx, are also in talks to buy output.
- TSMC originally planned to produce 20,000 wafers a month in Arizona, but it now aims to double that capacity and make even more advanced chips there.
- TSMC initially targeted chips using the 5- and 4-nm process technology for iPhone 14 and iPhone 14 Pro. Under the new plan, the Arizona plant will make a further 20,000 wafers a month using 3-nm.
- Investment for the 3-nm expansion could be more significant than the $12 billion TSMC invested in the plant’s first phase.
- TSMC founder Morris Chang has confirmed that TSMC will bring the latest 3-nm chip production to the U.S. but also said that manufacturing in the U.S. will be 50% more expensive than in Taiwan.
- Samsung Electronics Co, Ltd (OTC:SSNLF) and Intel Corp (NASDAQ:INTC) also massively expanded chip production footprints in the U.S.
- The report cited Charles Shi, a semiconductor analyst with Needham & Co., who said TSMC should put a higher priority on its new plants and expansions in Arizona and Japan.
- Price Action: TSM shares traded higher by 0.68% at $82.06 on the last check Monday.
- Photo Via Wikimedia Commons
