By Roland Murphy for AZBEX
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company this week publicly confirmed what AZBEX readers have known since May: Construction is underway on a second fab at the company’s north Phoenix site. (AZBEX, May 17)
Several international and electronics industry outlets began reporting on TSMC’s expansion plans – including the potential for a larger planned six-phase “GIGAFAB® – in 2021. The May 17 AZBEX article was the first Arizona and U.S. construction-focused coverage to compile those news reports, publicly available documents from TSMC and City of Phoenix, and statements from company officials confirming the second fab was under construction and that entitlements were in place for significantly more future development on the site.
In this week’s announcement, TSMC confirmed its first fab “is scheduled to begin production of N4 process technology in 2024, TSMC has also started the construction of a second fab which is scheduled to begin production of 3nm process technology in 2026. The overall investment for these two fabs will be approximately $40B, representing the largest foreign direct investment in Arizona history and one of the largest foreign direct investments in the history of the United States.”
More than 10,000 construction workers have been employed as part of the TSMC build to date.
TSMC’s announcements were made in a ceremony celebrating the arrival of the first batch of semiconductor manufacturing equipment to arrive at the TSMC Arizona site. The event was pegged to a visit by President Joe Biden and other senior government and industry officials to promote efforts incentivizing domestic production of semiconductors and other advanced manufacturing components and materials.
Apple CEO Tim Cook also attended and spoke at the ceremony. Apple recently announced it will source its advanced processor chips from the Phoenix site. The firm has previously sourced its chips from TSMC’s Taiwan-based facilities.
In its official statement, TSMC also announced, “TSMC Arizona is in the planning stages for an on-site Industrial Water Reclamation Plant that when finished, will allow the TSMC Arizona site to achieve near zero liquid discharge.”
TSMC Chairman Dr. Mark Liu said, “When complete, TSMC Arizona aims to be the greenest semiconductor manufacturing facility in the United States producing the most advanced semiconductor process technology in the country, enabling next generation high-performance and low-power computing products for years to come.”
