According to Taiwan magazine UDN.com while Job’s Mob and its mates hope the Arizona plant can speed up the supply of cutting-edge chips, TSMC has stayed schtum on the speculation.
Insiders say the first Arizona fab was supposed to kick off mass production in 2025 but started cranking out 4 nm chips in late 2024. The second facility, which was slated for 2028, is now heading for an early start in 2027 or even late 2026. The third fab, set to build N2 and A16 nodes, might fire up in 2028, four quarters ahead of schedule.
Nvidia’s top man Jensen Huang flew to Taiwan on 22 August for a chinwag with TSMC chairman Wei Zhejia about the chipmaker’s upcoming Rubin platform. Huang bragged that Rubin already has six product designs booked with TSMC, including CPUs, GPUs, NVLINK switch chips, networking gear, and silicon photonics.
Nvidia’s not alone. OpenAI and other AI punters are after TSMC’s em-level process tech, with Job’s Mob customers like Broadcom and Marvell also deep in bed with the foundry. Meanwhile, despite a government equity boost, Chipzilla’s fabs can’t meet its needs and it’s offloading more orders to TSMC.
To keep up with the stampede, TSMC said its second Arizona fab, which uses 3 nm process tech, is finished and ready to go. The foundry claims there’s strong US customer demand and it’s pushing to bring mass production forward by several quarters.
Construction of the third Arizona fab using 2 nm and A16 tech is underway, with timelines shortened thanks to AI-driven demand. The fourth facility will also use those nodes, while the fifth and sixth fabs are expected to handle even more advanced production.
This demand from US outfits is fuelling TSMC’s stateside growth and profits. But the company admitted the good times won’t come cheap. Starting in 2025, gross margins from overseas plants will shrink by two to three per cent annually, rising to three to four per cent in later years.
TSMC said it’s not sitting on its hands. The company plans to expand further in Arizona and cut costs wherever possible. “We will continue to work closely with customers and supplier partners to control the impact,” TSMC said.