Apple and NVIDIA First Customers of TSMC's Arizona Fab

[btarunr]

Apple and NVIDIA will be among the first customers of TSMC's swanky new $12 billion semiconductor fab in Arizona, USA. Apple will be the first major player to kick off mass-production in the fab, and will be closely followed by NVIDIA. Both companies plan to produce some of their inventory in Arizona, and ramp proportionately up as the fab grows in capacity.

The plan with TSMC's Arizona fab was to originally make 5 nm and 4 nm EUV chips, with an output of 20,000 wafers a month, but the company now expects to deploy a more advanced node to keep up with what will be considered cutting-edge when the fab goes live (think 2 nm-class); and also double the output to 40,000 wafers a month. The capacity should ensure Apple and NVIDIA make their most cutting-edge chips on the node (away from Asia), so there could be tighter export controls, and build supply-chain resilience in the face of security problems arising in the Taiwan straits.



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[Bomby569]

Nvidia wants first place in the cutting edge and will keep asking cutting edge price

 

[watzupken]

I wonder what is the point of getting chips in US, when devices are put together in Asia most of the time. At the end of the day, the same bottleneck exists, while cost increases. And with Apple moving to 3nm for A17, the 4nm fab will likely be used to produce older SOCs by the time the fab is up and running.

 

[crubino]

I remember when I was young, I'd often seen some computer ads in IT Magazines with this tag: "100% made in USA"

 

[Bomby569]

I remember when I was young, I'd often seen some computer ads in IT Magazines with this tag: "100% made in USA"

but was it true? i doubt it, that was the time a lot of components were made in Japan.

 

[Auer]

I wonder what is the point of getting chips in US, when devices are put together in Asia most of the time. At the end of the day, the same bottleneck exists, while cost increases. And with Apple moving to 3nm for A17, the 4nm fab will likely be used to produce older SOCs by the time the fab is up and running.

National security reasons.

 

[mechtech]

They going to borrow water from Lake Mead??

 

[bonehead123]

Hopefully, by the time this fab goes online, 3nm will be antiquated and ym will be da bomb

 

[dir_d]

They going to borrow water from Lake Mead??

That's a good point, where are they going to be getting the water from, the Colorado River is over taxed as it is by consumption.

 

[watzupken]

National security reasons.

Chips produced by TSMC in Taiwan and US are no different. If US is worried about chip shortages, having the chips manufactured in US will not help when you have dependencies on producing a complete product and for raw materials. You can produce an Apple SOC in US, but you can't use it until it gets assembled by Foxconn in Asia. Same problem with Nvidia. So again, I don't see the point when the end to end production line is not onshore. The only thing I can tell is that we need to expect significant price increases on the end product.

 

[Auer]

Chips produced by TSMC in Taiwan and US are no different. If US is worried about chip shortages, having the chips manufactured in US will not help when you have dependencies on producing a complete product and for raw materials. You can produce an Apple SOC in US, but you can't use it until it gets assembled by Foxconn in Asia. Same problem with Nvidia. So again, I don't see the point when the end to end production line is not onshore. The only thing I can tell is that we need to expect significant price increases on the end product.

Here you go:

Semiconductors and National Defense: What Are the Stakes?

The erosion of U.S. capabilities in microelectronics is a direct threat to the United States’ ability to defend itself and its allies. Ensuring U.S. leadership in semiconductor technology is the preeminent national security concern of the modern era.

www.csis.org

 

[TheoneandonlyMrK]

Chips produced by TSMC in Taiwan and US are no different. If US is worried about chip shortages, having the chips manufactured in US will not help when you have dependencies on producing a complete product and for raw materials. You can produce an Apple SOC in US, but you can't use it until it gets assembled by Foxconn in Asia. Same problem with Nvidia. So again, I don't see the point when the end to end production line is not onshore. The only thing I can tell is that we need to expect significant price increases on the end product.

Production is based in Asia because of cost, not because Americans cannot make up PCB assemblies, and they Can be made elsewhere, and the raw materials are presently also part of a diversification drive by all involved besides china who are naturally opposed to diversity of supply.

 

[Bomby569]

Production is based in Asia because of cost, not because Americans cannot make up PCB assemblies, and they Can be made elsewhere, and the raw materials are presently also part of a diversification drive by all involved besides china who are naturally opposed to diversity of supply.

That's not true, Mexico is in NAFTA 2.0 and would have very low costs. And you'd have central and South America with even lower costs. The issue is more broader then that.
Chinese work ethic, authoritarianism, raw materials, competence, their location, their resources in a broader sense ... lots of factors

 

[TheoneandonlyMrK]

That's not true, Mexico is in NAFTA 2.0 and would have very low costs. And you'd have central and South America with even lower costs. The issue is more broader then that.
Chinese work ethic, authoritarianism, raw materials, competence, their location, their resources in a broader sense ... lots of factors

And lots gets built in Mexico, I disagree though, there's nothing special per say about China's manufacturing besides price IMHO.
As is exemplified by the fact that a lot of pc hardware manufacturing moved out of China due to the import taxes trump levied against China.

Let's agree to disagree, I don't see much need to be either too political or to argue about regional differences.

 

[crubino]

but was it true? i doubt it, that was the time a lot of components were made in Japan.

For RAM ads, I think that was true. On that time they made it somewhere in Texas.

 

[hat]

If we can fab the chips here, it stands to reason we can assemble the rest of the components here as well. Sure we can't just yet, but building an assembly line is trivial compared to fabbing cutting edge chips. As for chips that aren't cutting edge, I'm sure we have other foundries around here that can help out with that (GloFo?)...

Either way, maybe it's all saber rattling. Borders aside, we all live on the same planet, and we all need the same goods. Some nations have things others need and don't have, and vice versa. The (for lack of better term) modern warfare is economical, and we're willing to push so far, but how far are we really willing to go? I'm starting to think we're in something of another "cold war", but rather than nukes, it's economics that are the weapons everyone is worried about. Still, it's good to be prepared.