Currently, TSMC is building a new wafer factory Fab21 in Arizona, USA. It was originally planned that the first phase of the production line would be put into use in 2024, using the N4 and N5 series processes. However, due to the lack of professionals required to install equipment in semiconductor facilities, the time for mass production of Fab21 may be delayed to 2025, about a year later.
Although the progress of the entire project has been delayed, TSMC still maintains an optimistic attitude and strives to resolve various difficulties encountered. According to MoneyDJ, in order to ensure that the new wafer factory can be put into production smoothly and meet some needs, TSMC plans to build a small-scale trial production line first and start manufacturing chips in 2024.
It is understood that this small-scale pilot production line is expected to be put into use in the first quarter of 2024, with a monthly production capacity of between 4,000 and 5,000 wafers. TSMC's change in strategy may be to reduce losses caused by potential defaults due to factory delays. Some customer orders may be designated to be completed at Fab21. Considering that Fab21 itself is designed to have a production capacity of 20,000 wafers per month, the scale of the pilot production line is not large, but it can already meet the needs of some local users.
It is reported that major customers such as Apple, AMD and Nvidia may transfer some orders to wafer fabs in other regions of TSMC to avoid delays in the release of new products. However, some people are worried that temporarily adding orders to other fabs may lead to unnecessary competition for production capacity.