Apple and NVIDIA first customers of TSMC 3nm/4nm chips made in new USA based Arizona Plant

TSMC is targeting Intel on its home turf by constructing a facility in Arizona. The next generation iPhone will use chips manufactured on 3nm technology, and Apple will be the first company to use wafers from this factory. NVIDIA is getting early wafers for the first time, however it will likely get 4nm instead of 3nm.

The new Arizona facility for TSMC will open in 2024, with 4nm (N4) chip mass production beginning the following year. An additional plant producing 3nm (N3) wafers may be constructed, putting Arizona's supply chain on par with that of Taiwan, say industry sources (at least in terms of technical prowess). You should know that Intel plans to begin mass manufacturing of its 2nm and 1.8nm nodes (20A and 18A) simultaneously.

TSMC plans to construct six factories in Arizona, each with a monthly output of 100,000 wafers. Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company officials will officially break ground on the new facility this week in Arizona. Attendees will include Apple's Tim Cook, NVIDIA's Jensen Huang, and AMD's Dr. Lisa Su, all of whom will be present to mark the arrival of the first machines on campus.

TSMC founder Chang has confirmed that TSMC will bring the latest 3-nm chip production to the U.S. but also said that manufacturing in the U.S. will be 50% more expensive than in Taiwan. TSMC's current production base for 3-nm chips is in the southern Taiwanese city of Tainan, where production using the technology only recently began. Samsung and Intel are also massively expanding chip production footprints in the U.S. Samsung is building a $17 billion chip facility in Texas, while Intel is constructing a new $20 billion plant in Arizona and another $20 billion plant in Ohio. Charles Shi, a semiconductor analyst with Needham & Co., said TSMC should put a higher priority on its new plants and expansions in Arizona and Japan.

Apple and NVIDIA are reportedly the first customers for the Arizona plant, with AMD possibly receiving a smaller share. TSMC's Arizona chip factory produces identical chips to its Taiwanese counterpart. But it will be a symbolic move as the contract manufacturing leader in the world launches its first project in the United States.