Leading chipmakers Samsung and TSMC are already drafting their respective 2nm manufacturing plans. According to recent reports from the South China Morning Post and The Korea Times, Samsung plans to start 2nm manufacturing in South Korea next year. The company will also invest a total of 500 trillion won ($371 billion) in a "megacluster" semiconductor factory near Seoul by 2047, which will consist of 13 chip factories and three research facilities and will conduct 2-nanometer manufacturing.
TSMC plans to build 2-nanometer chip manufacturing plants and technology parks in Hsinchu and Kaohsiung, Taiwan, and another factory in Taichung, but is still waiting for government approval.
While neither company has completely abandoned production projects in other countries, progress has been slow and problematic. The United States has a famous "CHIPS and Science Act", of which $53 billion is earmarked for subsidies. But disbursements from the fund have been slow. Additionally, both companies are experiencing a shortage of local talent. Local unions also prevent TSMC from bringing in experts from Taiwan.
However, TSMC still has two chip factories under construction in Arizona, and if there are no further setbacks, it is expected to start producing 4-nanometer chips in 2024 and 3-nanometer chips in 2026.
Samsung has been building its own factory in Texas since 2021 at a cost of $17 billion, but progress has been slow and it is only expected to produce chips at the 4-nanometer node.
Other places such as Europe, Japan and India, where chip manufacturing is expanding at a slower pace or even not making progress, have also revealed semiconductor manufacturing subsidy plans, but diversification of cutting-edge chip manufacturing is expected to be a very serious challenge.