Apple management once attended the groundbreaking ceremony for TSMC’s advanced silicon wafer processing facility in Arizona and made no secret of the company’s interest in American-made chips. At the same time, from conversations with knowledgeable specialists, it becomes clear that Apple will continue to rely on the Taiwanese companies of this contractor even after the TSMS factory in Arizona is put into operation.
Image source: Apple
This is what the publication reports The information after consulting with representatives from TSMC and Apple, who wished to remain anonymous. According to them, TSMC’s advanced Apple chips must be processed in the final stages of production in Taiwan’s testing and packaging lines using special advanced methods. TSMC does not intend to establish similar manufacturing facilities in the United States because the volume of production of related products at the neighboring Arizona site will be too small to justify additional investment in localization.
In fact, US-made Apple chip crystals are sent to Taiwan to return from there as part of finished chips. This type of collaboration negates most of the benefits Apple was supposed to gain by locating silicon wafer processing in the United States. Of course, Apple can source some of its chip lineup from TSMC without requiring such extensive processing outside the US, but it’s unlikely that the latter company would want to burden its limited production capacity in Arizona with such orders. The contractor in this situation will be interested in using the most advanced lithography standards that will increase profitability and accelerate the payback of this very expensive project.
Formally, US authorities are ready to provide up to $ 2.5 billion in subsidies over the next five years for the development of companies in the country that test and package chips using advanced methods, but on an industry scale this is a drop the hot stone. To a certain extent, we can count on Intel’s efforts to expand its chip testing and packaging business, but the question is whether Intel’s services can meet Apple’s needs.
Add Comment