Just two years after it revealed plans to put up an initial production plant in Phoenix, the big Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company says it wants to construct a nanometer chip manufacturing facility in the same city.
According to analysts, the new plant is evidence of TSMC’s desire to expand its advanced chip manufacturing profile in the U.S.
The announcement of the new factory was made by Morris Chang, TSMC’s founder and former chief executive officer, who told the news service Reuters that plans for the project are yet to be finalized.
Launched in 1987, TSMC, based in Hsinchu, Taiwan, is not only one of the largest companies in industry-rich Taiwan, but is the biggest independent semiconductor foundry in the world. The company currently manufactures around 90% of the chips used in most advanced technologies and enjoys annual revenues in excess of $35 billion.
TSMC declared its intention to build a $12 billion fabrication plant in Phoenix in the spring of 2020 with plans later announced to build up to half a dozen additional factories at the site. Work on the initial facility is expected to be completed in 2024.
According to the website Siliconangle, a new TSMC nanometer factory would leave the company in a “much better position to compete with Intel for customers that want their advanced chips to be manufactured domestically.”
By Garry Boulard
