Chip company TSMC invests $165B in U.S. manufacturing

Chip giant TSMC is investing a historic $165 billion in U.S. semiconductor manufacturing, the company announced earlier this month. However, not much of that, if any, is expected to come to the company’s Camas fabrication operation.

TSMC Washington, formerly WaferTech, opened in Camas nearly 30 years ago and was at the time the only U.S. fab the Taiwanese company operated.

But that all changed in 2020 when TSMC, which accounts for about 65 percent of global semiconductor foundry market share worldwide, announced it would be setting up shop in Arizona.

Arizona is home to a large semiconductor manufacturing ecosystem dating back decades, according to trade publication ManufacturingDive. Intel is one of the state’s top employers.

ManufacturingDive reported last year that TSMC was drawn to Phoenix, in part, because of Arizona State University and its growing engineering program.

The Taiwanese chip company announced its $65 billion Arizona-based advanced manufacturing effort in May 2020. The first fab opened last year. Two more are slated for the coming years, though the projects have faced delays.

The company told The Columbian on Monday that its priority is supporting its customers.

TSMC Washington manufactures 8-inch, or 200 mm, semiconductor wafers, according to its website. But 12-inch, or 300 mm, wafers are more in demand today, accounting for 64.3 percent of the market, according to the website market.us. The larger size allows for higher production and lower costs per wafer, the website said.

These larger wafers are what are being made in Arizona.

TSMC announced this month it would be expanding its investment in advanced semiconductor manufacturing in the U.S., with plans for three additional fabs, two advanced packaging facilities, and a major research and development team center, all seemingly in Arizona.

The company said the move would be “the largest single foreign direct investment in U.S. history.”

“This expansion will play a crucial role in strengthening the U.S. semiconductor ecosystem by increasing American production of advanced semiconductor technology,” the company said in a news release March 4. “It will also complete the domestic AI (artificial intelligence) supply chain with TSMC’s first U.S. advanced packaging investments.”