For a few weeks now there have been rumors of pressure from Apple against TSMC, aimed at convincing the Taiwanese chipmaker to bring a large part of its high-tech production to the United States. Today we find out that Apple has succeeded in its intentconvincing TSMC to move the production lines of 3 and 4 nm chips to the USA.
Apple itself, in the past few hours, has announced that will start using only “Made in America” chips for its products in the coming years, as TSMC moves its 3 and 4 nm lines from Taiwan to Phoenix, Arizona. In recent months, TSMC had announced the construction of new plants in the United States taking advantage of the CHIPS Act passed by Washington, but had also explained that the strategic productions would remain in Taiwanwhile less advanced chips would have been produced in the USA.
The reason for this choice was clear: it was a decision result of political pressure on TSMCwhy make Taiwan a hubs world of semiconductors with a high rate of innovation would have made the island a strategic ally for the Americans, who would thus have more closely protected its independence in the event of a Chinese attack. However, it seems that the behind-the-scenes work of Cupertino, which at the moment is far and away the TSMC’s largest customerpushed the foundry to also move the 3 and 4 nm lines, the most advanced in production at the moment, to America.
Tuesday, December 6, either Tim Cook and President Joe Biden were in Arizona, at the inauguration ceremony of the work on TSMC’s Phoenix Fab, demonstrating how the event was of strategic importance for the US hi-tech sector. “These chips will power the iPhones and Macbooks of the next few years, as Tim Cook can confirm. So far Apple has had to buy its advanced chips from overseas. Will now produce them here, a home“said Biden.
Among those present at the ceremony also the CEOs of AMD and NVIDIA, both long-term customers of TSMC. Jensen Huang, head of NVIDIA, for example explained that “TSMC has become a global platform upon which the entire global technology industry is built. Bringing TSMC’s investment to the United States is a masterstroke, and it will change the entire development of the industry.”.
