Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) has achieved early production yields at its first plant in Arizona that surpass similar factories back home, a significant breakthrough for a US expansion project initially dogged by delays and worker strife.
The share of chips manufactured at TSMC’s facility in Phoenix that are usable is about 4 percentage points higher than comparable facilities in Taiwan, Rick Cassidy, president of TSMC’s US division, told listeners on a webinar on Wednesday, according to a person who participated.
The success rate, or yield, is a critical measure in the semiconductor industry because it determines whether companies would be able to cover the enormous costs of a chip plant.
Photo: Bloomberg
The accomplishment is a sign of progress for Washington’s efforts to revitalize semiconductor manufacturing in the US.
TSMC, the main chip manufacturing partner for Nvidia Corp and Apple Inc, is in line to win US$6.6 billion in US government grants and US$5 billion in loans — plus 25 percent tax credits — to build three fabs in Arizona. The award, like almost all others from the 2022 CHIPS and Science Act, is not yet finalized.
The two other chipmakers at the heart of the tech strategy of US President Joe Biden’s administration — Intel Corp and Samsung Electronics Co — have struggled in the past few months.
Intel, slated to be the biggest beneficiary of the CHIPS Act, is under such severe financial pressure that it is delaying global projects and considering selling assets.
Meanwhile, TSMC has been on a roll.
Its shares reached a record high this month after the chipmaker topped quarterly estimates and raised its target for revenue growth this year.
The latest yield advancement is notable for TSMC, because it has historically kept the most advanced and efficient plants in Taiwan.
Its Arizona site got off to a rocky start, as the company could not find enough skilled staff to install advanced equipment, and workers struggled with safety and management issues.
TSMC reached an accord with construction labor unions late last year.
The chipmaker originally planned to have its first Arizona plant start full production this year, but pushed back the target to next year over the labor issues. It later delayed the start date for its second fab to 2027 or 2028, from an initial target of 2026. That fueled concerns that the company might not be able to make chips in the US as efficiently as in Taiwan.
TSMC could now be keen to expand its US presence further, depending in part on the possibility of more US government backing, Cassidy said, citing early conversations in Washington about a second CHIPS Act.
There is room for at least six fabs at the Phoenix complex.
NEXT GENERATION: The four plants in the Central Taiwan Science Park, designated Fab 25, would consist of four 1.4-nanometer wafer manufacturing plants, TSMC said Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) plans to begin construction of four new plants later this year, with the aim to officially launch production of 2-nanometer semiconductor wafers by late 2028, Central Taiwan Science Park Bureau director-general Hsu Maw-shin (許茂新) said. Hsu made the announcement at an event on Friday evening celebrating the Central Taiwan Science Park’s 22nd anniversary. The second phase of the park’s expansion would commence with the initial construction of water detention ponds and other structures aimed at soil and water conservation, Hsu said. TSMC has officially leased the land, with the Central Taiwan Science Park having handed over the
The Philippines is working behind the scenes to enhance its defensive cooperation with Taiwan, the Washington Post said in a report published on Monday. “It would be hiding from the obvious to say that Taiwan’s security will not affect us,” Philippine Secretary of National Defense Gilbert Teodoro Jr told the paper in an interview on Thursday last week. Although there has been no formal change to the Philippines’ diplomatic stance on recognizing Taiwan, Manila is increasingly concerned about Chinese encroachment in the South China Sea, the report said. The number of Chinese vessels in the seas around the Philippines, as well as Chinese
URBAN COMBAT: FIM-92 Stinger shoulder-fired missiles from the US made a rare public appearance during early-morning drills simulating an invasion of the Taipei MRT The ongoing Han Kuang military exercises entered their sixth day yesterday, simulating repelling enemy landings in Penghu County, setting up fortifications in Tainan, laying mines in waters in Kaohsiung and conducting urban combat drills in Taipei. At 5am in Penghu — part of the exercise’s first combat zone — participating units responded to a simulated rapid enemy landing on beaches, combining infantry as well as armored personnel. First Combat Zone Commander Chen Chun-yuan (陳俊源) led the combined armed troops utilizing a variety of weapons systems. Wang Keng-sheng (王鏗勝), the commander in charge of the Penghu Defense Command’s mechanized battalion, said he would give
AUKUS: The Australian Ambassador to the US said his country is working with the Pentagon and he is confident that submarine issues will be resolved Australian Ambassador to the US Kevin Rudd on Friday said that if Taiwan were to fall to China’s occupation, it would unleash China’s military capacities and capabilities more broadly. He also said his country is working with the Pentagon on the US Department of Defense’s review of the AUKUS submarine project and is confident that all issues raised will be resolved. Rudd, who served as Australian prime minister from 2007 to 2010 and for three months in 2013, made the remarks at the Aspen Security Forum in Colorado and stressed the longstanding US-Australia alliance and his close relationship with the US Undersecretary
RSS