(David Paul Morris/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
President Trump has been touting TSMC’s $100 billion investment to build “state-of-the-art” chip factories in Arizona. But the company says its most advanced manufacturing processes will likely debut in Taiwan first, where TSMC is based, rather than in the US.
TSMC isn’t ready to share which manufacturing “nodes” it’ll offer at the company’s Arizona facility, which will eventually span a total of six fabs, thanks to a total of $165 billion in investment. But in a statement, the company told PCMag: “It is extremely difficult to develop new advanced manufacturing processes and then enter volume production.”
“Initial deployment of a new process technology requires close collaboration between R&D and production, and new processes will likely be deployed in Taiwan first to ensure they can be successfully ramped up,” TSMC added.
The company issued the statement after Taiwan’s government said it would ensure that TSMC keeps “its most advanced manufacturing processes in Taiwan,” according to The Guardian.
In the US, TSMC has already started producing chips using its 4-nanometer process at its first fab in Arizona, which kicked off volume production in Q4. However, the company’s most advanced chip technology at the 3nm and the upcoming 2nm node is being used and developed in factories in Taiwan.
Although Taiwan might get first dibs, TSMC indicated to PCMag it’s still committed to bringing its most advanced chip nodes to the US, citing its customers, which include Apple, AMD, Nvidia, Qualcomm and even Intel.“We plan to deploy new processes in the US in a strategic manner that narrows the gap following initial launch, aligning with customer needs and product schedules,” the chip manufacturing giant added.
Because TSMC is based in Taiwan, there’s been growing concern that the company’s chip technologies could fall into the hands of China should it ever invade the island. During Monday’s event announcing the TSMC investment, Trump himself weighed in on the threat of a Chinese invasion of Taiwan.
“I can’t say ‘minimize,’” Trump said when asked whether TSMC’s investment would cushion the threat of China possibly trying to take Taiwan.
“That would be a catastrophic event, obviously,” he added. “But it will at least give us a position where we have — in this very, very important business, we would have a very big part of it (the chip manufacturing) in the United States.”
TSMC also made the investment when Trump has been threatening to impose tariffs on foreign-made chips. According to Wired, the White House hasn’t shut the door on such tariffs, despite TSMC’s plan to create more manufacturing in the country.