Last week, Apple announced plans for $500 billion of investment in the US economy over the next four years. Now, key partner TSMC looks set to make its own pledge. Per The Wall Street Journal, TSMC is committing $100 billion to US manufacturing expansion in the next four years, with a formal announcement coming this afternoon.

TSMC plans to invest heavily in US chip-making facilities

Yang Jie, Meridith McGraw and Asa Fitch write for The Wall Street Journal:

• Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. intends to invest $100 billion in chip-manufacturing plants in the U.S. over the next four years under a plan expected to be announced later Monday by President Trump, according to people familiar with the matter.
  
• The investment would be used to build out cutting-edge chip-making facilities. Such an expansion would advance a long-pursued U.S. goal to regrow the domestic semiconductor industry after manufacturing fled largely to Asian countries in recent decades. 

It’s unclear from the WSJ’s reporting if the $100 billion commitment is entirely new, or if it includes prior promises the company’s made. The details will hopefully be spelled out in the formal announcement.

TSMC already operates manufacturing facilities in Arizona, but the vast majority of its operations are overseas, with Taiwan its home base.

The company’s US facilities currently produce two Apple chips, but neither of them is among most cutting edge, modern chips in Apple’s lineup.

Current US-based chips include:

• the A16 Bionic
• and the S9 chip for the Apple Watch

Recently, TSMC’s CEO remarked that the US was unlikely to become the production home for the latest and greatest chips due to various regulatory issues that prevent the company from innovating as quickly as it can in Taiwan.

It will be interesting to see if those comments are walked back in the official announcement. Perhaps a deal has been struck between TSMC and President Trump’s administration to provide a new path forward.

If TSMC’s investments mean that flagship Apple chips can be produced in the US, that will represent a big change from current standard practice.

Source: 9to5mac