Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company’s (TSMC) first 12-inch wafer fab in Arizona will roll out its first 4 nm chips in December, with production to pick up in 2025.

The opening ceremony, slated for Dec. 6, is expected to be attended by TSMC founder Morris Chang (???) and major clients including Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang (???) and AMD CEO Lisa Su (???), per UDN.

The Arizona fab’s opening was delayed due to the COVID-19 pandemic and labor shortages. It began construction in 2021 and follows a “megafab” design, with the cleanroom being twice the size of a typical logic wafer fab in the industry.

According to TSMC, the Arizona fab site covers approximately 445 hectares. The first phase was scheduled to begin mass production of the 4 nm process in the second half of this year but has been postponed to Q1 2025. The second phase was to start producing 3 nm chips in 2026 but delayed to 2028.

The investment for the two phases totals approximately US$40 billion (NT$1.27 trillion), making it one of the largest foreign direct investment projects in US history, per IEK. The third fab is expected to adopt the 2 nm or A16 process, with mass production slated for 2030.

By: DocMemory
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