Sources say TSMC's Arizona chip factory faces challenges: high costs and a shortage of talent

IT House, December 6, according to the Wall Street Journal, TSMC is preparing for the Arizona chip plant to start production in December 2023. But TSMC said it had encountered problems such as high costs, talent shortages and unexpected construction obstacles.

According to the report, TSMC said in a letter to the U.S. Department of Commerce in November that the chip plant in northern Phoenix faced a series of construction costs and uncertainties. By contrast, the construction of advanced logic chip factories of the same level in Taiwan is much less capital intensive than that of the United States. TSMC points out that the real obstacle to building a production line in the United States is the comparative cost of building and operating.

IT House learned that TSMC's new plant in Arizona started in April 2021 and will soon hold equipment-to-plant activities. According to public documents, the new plant is expected to change in December 2023.

In addition, TSMC also put forward the staffing plan for the new plant in the United States for the first time. Arizona currently has more than 1000 employees and expatriates, which will increase to 2000 in 2023.