It had everything going against it. TSMC’s first integrated circuit plant in Arizona has caused the company considerable headaches. Despite this, the Taiwanese company is building three semiconductor fabs in the state. The first one was initially expected to start large-scale production of highly integrated chips in 2024, but it won’t.
Mass production of integrated circuits won’t begin until 2025. The year of delay to activate such a high-tech facility poses a significant issue for TSMC, a company that urgently needs to expand its manufacturing capacity. One issue causing this delay is the difficulty in finding skilled workers.
According to Fortune, TSMC is known for its “brutal” corporate culture, which has intimidated many U.S. workers. The company also faces union issues. To make matters worse, the local government is struggling to create the legal ecosystem to support a state-of-the-art chip factory, as DigiTimes Asia reports.
Against All Odds, TSMC’s Arizona Plant Is Already Setting Records
TSMC’s first Arizona plant will begin full-scale integrated circuit production in the first half of 2025, but early production testing has already started. This fab will produce semiconductors at the N4 (4 nm) node. The second fab, operational in 2028, will produce circuits at the N3 (3 nm) and N2 (2 nm) nodes. The third plant is expected to be fully operational by the end of the decade, also producing 2 nm chips.
According to Bloomberg, Rick Cassidy, president of TSMC’s U.S. division, confirmed that initial production throughput at the Arizona plant has already exceeded that of TSMC’s comparable facilities in Taiwan. Cassidy stated that the ratio of usable integrated circuits produced in Arizona is approximately four percentage points higher than comparable plants in Taiwan.
Even more surprising, the Arizona plant in Phoenix has delivered higher yields than TSMC’s Taiwanese fabs despite its challenging start.
The yield of a lithography node is crucial, as it reflects the node’s capacity to produce valid chips. High yield is a significant competitive factor for semiconductor manufacturers, underscoring the importance of yield as an industry parameter. Even more surprising, the Arizona plant in Phoenix has delivered higher yields than TSMC’s Taiwanese fabs despite its challenging start.
TSMC executives have long praised the productivity of their Taiwanese facilities, asserting they hold the best technology. Even the Taiwanese government has commented on TSMC’s international expansion, insisting the best technology will remain on the island. Given these statements, the strong performance of the Arizona plant is particularly impressive, especially after the obstacles its management faced to bring it online. It promises to be an intriguing development. Only time will tell what surprises these facilities will reveal in 2025.
Image | TSMC Arizona
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