Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. is working to speed up construction of two factories in Arizona, a move that could bring more Apple chip production to Arizona more quickly — but don't expect the latest chips to be produced here. TSMC’s Fab 21 in PhoenixfactoryIt is the company's first dedicated chip-making factory in Arizona, and although two more plants are under construction, TSMC plans to be operational earlier than originally envisioned.
According to Nikkei, TSMC plans to significantly speed up the construction of these two factories. TSMC claims that construction of the two factories will be "several quarters ahead of schedule" to speed up production.
TSMC said the move was to meet U.S. customer demand for smartphones and artificial intelligence computing chips.
TSMC Chairman and CEO Wei Zhejia said on Thursday: "After the project is completed, approximately 30% of our 2-nanometer and higher-advanced (chip) production capacity will be located in Arizona." This will create "an independent, cutting-edge semiconductor manufacturing cluster" in the United States.
TSMC announced it will "save several quarters" off the construction time of two factories, which is significant for U.S. chip production in general. U.S. chip production currently lags significantly behind Taiwan.
In March of this year, it was reported that the second factory in Arizona will be put into production of 3-nanometer chips in 2028, while the third factory will be used to produce 2-nanometer chips. The third factory broke ground in April 2025 and is expected to be operational in 2030.
Since TSMC’s Taiwan fab has begun 2nm production, this effectively means that TSMC’s U.S. fab is larger than Taiwan’sfive years behind. By drastically shortening the construction timeline, the overall lag time for U.S. production could be reduced to just three years.
The accelerated buildout comes months after TSMC pledged to invest $100 billion in the United States. The investment is planned to be completed within four years and is aimed at expanding TSMC's manufacturing operations in the United States.
TSMC has made an initial $12 billion investment in Arizona in 2020. TSMC also received a $6.6 billion package from the Biden administration as part of the CHIPS Act.
The latest hefty pledge will almost certainly be used in part to speed up facility construction. Due to their size and complexity, these processes take a long time to complete.
Accelerated construction of these facilities should be welcomed by President Donald Trump's administration. He has repeatedly called for more manufacturing to return to the United States and called on Apple to do the same.
There are many obstacles. Notably, the lack of U.S.-based resources and well-educated local labor required for iPhone assembly is a major obstacle.
Demand for smartphone and artificial intelligence chips is likely to come from Apple, as the Cupertino company is one of TSMC's largest chip customers. The move would bring making iPhones entirely in the United States closer to reality.
Until then, Apple has no choice but to accept that its chips must be produced at TSMC's more advanced factories in Taiwan. At least for more advanced chips.
$100 billion won't necessarily allow the U.S. to fully catch up with Taiwan in terms of projects, but closing the gap for a few quarters is still a lot of progress when it comes to manufacturing.