TSMC’s first US chip plant took significantly longer to build and begin production than was forecast, but the company says that future plants will proceed at a significantly faster pace. This will enable US-made chips for somewhat newer Apple devices.
But former Intel CEO Pat Gelsinger is dismissive of the initiative, suggesting that it will be of little help in enabling the US to be a global player in the chip business …
‘Made in America’ Apple chips
Regular readers will be familiar with the story so far.
Apple first announced its plan for ‘Made in America’ chips back in 2022, with the news hailed as one of the success stories of the US CHIPS Act. The initiative will see a series of TSMC chipmaking plants built in Arizona, with some of the production reserved for Apple chips for older devices.
The project has been beset with delays and uncertainties. Mass production at the first plant was due to start last year and was then pushed back to this year. Questions were raised about the promised US jobs, with many employees recruited from Taiwan, and the company even being accused of “anti-American discrimination.”
Skepticism was also voiced about the recent announcement of an additional $100B investment.
The timeframe problem will be solved, says TSMC
The first TSMC plant is only capable of making larger process chips used in older Apple devices. This includes the A16 chip first developed for the iPhone 14 Pro, which is no longer made, and the base model iPhone 15 models, which are still available from Apple but likely sell in small volumes.
If it takes years to bring a new US plant online, that would mean US-made Apple chips would forever be relegated to significantly older devices.
However, Nikkei Asia reports that TSMC has promised investors that the sluggish pace seen with the development of its first US plant will not be repeated. While that first plant took five years to build and open, the company says that future US plants will take no more than two.
That will see a 3nm plant brought online in 2028, and a 2nm one “before 2030.” The US plants will still lag behind the cutting-edge ones in Taiwan, meaning they will never make chips for the latest Apple products, but will at least close the gap.
Ex-Intel head is dismissive
Given that TSMC’s advanced chipmaking capabilities far outstripped those of US rival Intel, it’s no surprise that the two companies haven’t exactly been best buddies. After Apple made the switch from Intel Macs to Apple Silicon ones, the US chipmaker insisted it could catch up or even win back the business.
Even after being forced out of the company for failing to deliver, ex-CEO Pat Gelsinger remains dismissive of TSMC’s US plants. The Financial Times reports him saying it will do little to advance US chipmaking.
“If you don’t have R&D in the US, you will not have semiconductor leadership in the US,” Gelsinger said. “All of the R&D work of TSMC is in Taiwan, and they haven’t made any announcements to move that.”
Given that TSMC sees its home base in Taiwan as key to protecting the secrecy of its most advanced tech, it’s exceedingly unlikely the company would ever move any significant R&D work to the US.
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