TSMC set to pump tens of billions of dollars more' into Arizona than first thought

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By Oliver Haslam
published

Tsmc
Tsmc (Image credit: Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co., Ltd.)

What you need to know

  • TSMC will reportedly "double down" on its plans to open a plant in Arizona.
  • Plans to open an advanced plant in Europe appear to be struggling.

TSMC is considering a plan to "pump tens of billions of dollars more" into Arizona than was already planned, according to a new report. This comes as the company's intention to open an advanced manufacturing plant in Europe appear to be cooing.

Construction on a TSMC plant is already underway in Arizona after the company announced plans last year. But according to a new Reuters report, things have gone south in Europe and TSMC is now considering expanding its Phoenix plans.

Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co is weighing plans to pump tens of billions of dollars more into cutting-edge chip factories in the U.S. state of Arizona than it had previously disclosed, but is cool on prospects for an advanced European plant, people familiar with the matter told Reuters.

The same report claims that TSMC is now considering using the Phoenix plant as a source for 3nm chips, while the same site could end up being home to as many as six different plants. If TSMC does go the 3nm route, sources tell Reuters that as much as $25 billion could end up being invested.

Reuters this month reported that previously disclosed factory could be the first of up to up to six planned plants at the site. Now, company officials are debating whether the next plant should be a more advanced facility that can make chips with so-called 3-nanometer chipmaking technology compared to the slower, less-efficient 5-nanometer technology used for the first factory.

TSMC currently builds the chips used in multiple Apple products, not least its hugely popular iPhone – including the current iPhone 12 lineup. It's possible that the chips manufactured in Phoenix could one day be used in future iPhones, for example.

In terms of plans to open an advanced manufacturing plant in Europe, that now seems like it's off the table.

A TSMC spokeswoman said that the company has not ruled out any possibilities, but that there are no plans for a plant in Europe.

Ouch.

Speaking of iPhones, there are some sweet iPhone deals to be had right about now. Definitely cheaper than $25 billion!

Oliver Haslam
Oliver Haslam
Contributor

Oliver Haslam has written about Apple and the wider technology business for more than a decade with bylines on How-To Geek, PC Mag, iDownloadBlog, and many more. He has also been published in print for Macworld, including cover stories. At iMore, Oliver is involved in daily news coverage and, not being short of opinions, has been known to 'explain' those thoughts in more detail, too.

Having grown up using PCs and spending far too much money on graphics card and flashy RAM, Oliver switched to the Mac with a G5 iMac and hasn't looked back. Since then he's seen the growth of the smartphone world, backed by iPhone, and new product categories come and go. Current expertise includes iOS, macOS, streaming services, and pretty much anything that has a battery or plugs into a wall. Oliver also covers mobile gaming for iMore, with Apple Arcade a particular focus. He's been gaming since the Atari 2600 days and still struggles to comprehend the fact he can play console quality titles on his pocket computer.