According to Taiwan media reports, TSMC founder Zhang Zhongmou said in a speech at the Brookings Institution, a US think tank, that the US to increase the production of domestic chips is expensive, wasteful and futile. He argues that the US chip industry does not have the talent pool it needs to expand and succeed.
Mr Zhang said Taiwan’s large population was essential to TSMC’s success in wafer manufacturing. As professionals in the U.S. and elsewhere leave manufacturing, Taiwan’s talent is maturing, making it an ideal location for pure wafer foundry.
Mr Zhang also stresses that the cost of manufacturing in the US is prohibitive. As TSMC’s 25 years of manufacturing experience at its Oregon plant attest, it can make money but has all but given up expanding. “We were naive when it came to comparing costs, but it was 50 per cent more expensive to make chips in the US than in Taiwan,” he says. He added that TSMC had repeatedly deployed U.S. and foreign workers to the Oregon plant, but had failed to reduce costs much.
It is understood that TSMC is building its Arizona fab, and the facility move is expected to start in the second half of 2022. TSMC expects to start mass production at the first phase of its new Arizona fab in the first quarter of 2024.
Reuters reported on April 20 that TSMC had raised $3.5 billion in bonds for its new Arizona fabs, according to a term sheet.
However, news of TSMC’s us plant has raised concerns among industry observers about the ability of the US to deliver on its commitment to support TSMC’s Arizona fab project. Observers say the cost of adding TSMC’s new Arizona plant would be huge. Without adequate government subsidies, it is difficult to predict when the plant will generate revenue.
