TSMC delays US chip fab opening, says US talent is insufficient
Enlarge / Signage outside the Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. facility under construction in Phoenix, Arizona. (credit: Bloomberg / Contributor | Bloomberg)
The Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC) was supposed to have its first Arizona chip factory operational by late 2024 but now has confirmed significant delays. Primarily due to a shortage of technical workers with critical expertise in the US, TSMC projects to finish construction instead by 2025.
This is an "ominous delay," Bloomberg reported, and it comes right when investment in AI is booming. TSMC is a leading supplier of AI chips, and the Biden administration is scrambling to quickly expand the US domestic chip industry. But the delay wasn't necessarily unexpected, ASML Holding NV CEO Peter Wennink told Bloomberg. Wennink's company is one of the world's leading producers of chipmaking equipment, and he said that getting access to skilled workers is a common cause of setbacks when building semiconductor fabrication plants, also known as fabs.
People don't seem to realize that when we start building those fabs across the globe now and are everywhere, that skill has been refined over the last couple of decades in only a few places on the planet-predominantly in Taiwan and in Korea and a bit in China," said Wennink. Getting access to the requisite skills and skilled workers to keep the construction plan on time is a challenge."