TSMC chip plant set to be developed in North Phoenix

The Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC) has plans of building a second TSMC chip plant in North Phoenix, Arizona. Thus far, TSMC has invested about $12 billion on the first plant which began construction in 2020. This project was already considered the largest investment in the history of Arizona, with its delivery date set for 2024.

However, the new TSMC chip plant will bring an additional $28 billion of investment to Arizona. According to the National Economic Council Director, Brian Deese this project will become Arizona’s largest foreign direct investment.

TSMC’s plants are particularly important since semiconductors serve as foundational components for various gadgets produced in the U.S. Some of these products include computers, phones, cars, laundry machines, and military technology.

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Development plans for the TSMC chip plant

TSMC’s Chairman Mark Liu also gave more insights into the company’s expectations for the two TSMC chip plants. Liu said both fabs will manufacture more than 600,000 wafers per annum upon completion, representing $10 billion in yearly revenue. Basically, these wafers refer to the shiny discs on which the chips are made.

According to Liu, customers using those chips would have annual sales worth more than $40 billion. Besides TSMC’s customers, the new plants will also be beneficial to Phoenix residents. Liu also said both plants combined will create about 13,000 high-paying tech jobs. About 4,500 of these employment opportunities will be under TSMC, while the rest will be filled by suppliers. 

The second chip plant will produce the most advanced chips currently in production known as the “3 nanometers”. As a result, all of TSMC’s major customers are looking forward to making their chips at the Arizona plants. These customers include Apple Inc (AAPL.O), Nvidia Corp (NVDA.O), and Advanced Micro Devices Inc (AMD.O).

Apple’s CEO Tim Cook was pleased with the progress made on both TSMC chip plants. He said his company was looking forward to a future expansion with TSMC, as they form deeper roots in America.