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Trial production yields at Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company’s TSM factory in Arizona are reportedly similar to those in Taiwan, as it anticipates billions in funding.
The chipmaker’s yield rate, or the amount of functional chips it can produce per manufacturing process, at its first factory in Phoenix is similar to yield rates at comparable factories in Taiwan, Bloomberg reported, citing an unnamed person familiar with the matter. It’s a positive sign for the Taiwan-based chipmaker, which has faced delays at two of its planned facilities in Arizona due to a shortage of skilled workers, and amid investors’ expectations for U.S. profitability.
“The project is proceeding as planned with good progression,” a spokesperson for the Taiwanese chipmaker said in a statement shared with Quartz.
TSMC makes an estimated 90% of the world’s advanced chips, and counts chipmaking leader Nvidia and iPhone-maker Apple as its top partners. Nvidia, which unveiled its highly-anticipated new Blackwell chip in March, said it is “excited to continue” its partnership with the chipmaker in Arizona.
In April, the Biden administration announced TSMC would receive $6.6 billion in grants through the federal Chips and Science Act, as well as up to $5 billion in loans to support its first major U.S. chipmaking hub. TSMC’s two chipmaking factories in Arizona are expected to begin production in 2025 and 2028, while some of the anticipated Chips Act funding will support building a third facility.
The company’s planned hub in Arizona will put the U.S. on track to produce 20% of the world’s advanced chips by 2030, the Biden administration said. Although semiconductors were invented in the U.S., the country produces less than 10% of chips in the world today — none of which are among the most advanced ones made by TSMC abroad.
