TSMC on Thursday officially confirmed that its Fab 21 near Phoenix, Arizona, had begun high volume production of chips after months of rumors and a confirmation from the U.S. Commerce Secretary earlier in January. The company emphasized that it is producing chips on one of its N4 process technology (4nm-class) and yields in Arizona are comparable to those in Taiwan. However, chips fabbed in the U.S. are more expensive than the same products made in Taiwan.
"We were able to pull ahead the production schedule of our first fab in Arizona, [it] already entered the high-volume production in Q4 2024 utilizing N4 process technology with a yield comparable to our fabs in Taiwan," said C.C. Wei, chief executive and chairman of TSMC, at the company's earnings conference call (via SeekingAlpha). "We expect a smooth ramp-up process and with our strong manufacturing capability and execution, we are confident to deliver the same level of manufacturing quality and reliability from our fab in Arizona as from our fab in Taiwan."
