TSMC will commence the production of advanced wafers on US soil in 2024. The Taiwanese foundry will manufacture chips based on its 4nm (N4) process at its Arizona fab, an upgrade from the earlier promised 5nm (N5) node. Codenamed Phoenix, the advanced silicon facility will produce chips for Apple, AMD, and NVIDIA, starting the year after.
US President Biden is expected to join NVIDIA CEO Jensen Huang, AMD CEO Dr. Lisa Su, and Apple CEO Tim Cook at a ceremony in Arizona next Tuesday to announce the update. In addition to the 4nm process foundry, TSMC will officiate the construction of a second fab at the Phoenix site to produce 3nm (N3) chips.
This will put additional pressure on Intel, the only chipmaker currently mass-producing advanced chips on US soil. Unfortunately, Team Blue lags behind rivals TSMC and Samsung in the foundry business. Its most advanced lithography is the 7nm node, while TSMC and Samsung are already shipping their 4nm wafers.
As part of Intel’s IDM 2.0 initiative, the Santa Clara-based chipmaker is building a brand-new manufacturing campus in Ohio while expanding the Ohio and Ireland facilities. Like TSMC’s Arizona fabs, Intel’s expansions are planned to go live in 2024 and 2025.
Source: The Register
