TSMC’s original plans for its semiconductor foundry in Arizona were to begin mass production of chips next year. However, the company just announced a delay: “We expect the N4 process technology production schedule to be pushed to 2025,” TSMC President Mark Liu told Nikkei Asia. Note that “N4” is one of TSMC’s 4nm nodes.
The problem is the lack of sufficiently skilled workers and technicians who can move in and install the advanced equipment used in the foundry. TSMC is sending technicians from its factories in Taiwan to help with the installation.
TSMC is also building a second plant in Arizona, which will produce 3nm chips. After an initial investment of $12 billion, there was an additional investment of $40 billion announced by President Biden and Tim Cook.
Due to a slowdown in the consumer electronics market, TSMC now forecasts a 10% decline in full-year revenue compared to 2022. This comes after reporting its first quarterly drop in net income since 2019.
On the bright side, the company is a key manufacturing partner for GPU makers Nvidia and AMD. It is the sole manufacturer of some of their most popular AI accelerator products at a time when AI is being added to all kinds of products by many companies. TSMC also has a lot of chipset orders coming for the next generation of iPhones and Macs.
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