TSMC recently publicly admitted that its second U.S. factory in Arizona will be delayed for at least a year, and the original 3nm process is also pending. The main reason is that the promised subsidies from the United States have not yet been received. TSMC's U.S. factory is called Fab21, with an investment of US$12 billion in the first phase of the project. It will be put into mass production in the second half of 2025, mainly producing 5nm and 4nm process chips.
At the end of 2022, TSMC increased its investment in U.S. factories to a maximum of US$40 billion and announced the construction of the second phase of Fab21 factory, planning to put into production the N33nm process in 2026.
The annual production capacity of the two factories can reach 600,000 wafers, which is 50,000 wafers per month.
However, due to the impact of the Chip and Science Act,There are great variables in the subsidies given by the U.S. government to new factories. Coupled with weak customer demand, TSMC has decided to postpone the progress of the new factory. It is currently expected to not be completed until 2027 or even 2028.
TSMC also stated that the new factory is under construction, but the production process has not been finalized and is still under discussion, depending on customer demand and time cycle. It seems that TSMC is trying to bargain with the US government.