Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company has announced plans to establish an advanced chip packaging facility in Arizona, with operations targeted to begin before 2029, according to a company executive.
The facility will address a critical supply chain bottleneck affecting modern artificial intelligence processors. Today’s AI chips, including those produced by Nvidia, consist of multiple components bonded together using sophisticated packaging techniques, a process that has created supply constraints for major tech companies.
During a technology conference in Santa Clara, California on Wednesday, TSMC officials confirmed that construction work has already commenced. The company had previously announced in January that it was seeking permits to build its first advanced packaging facility within an existing Arizona location, though no completion date was provided at that time.
“We are aggressively expanding our own capability within the Arizona facility,” stated Kevin Zhang, deputy co-chief operations officer and senior vice president, during remarks made Tuesday before the conference. “We are going to build a CoWoS capability and 3D-IC capability there before 2029, so that’s still our goal,” Zhang explained, referencing two highly sought-after packaging technologies developed by TSMC.
Currently, major clients including Apple and Nvidia receive semiconductor chips from TSMC’s Arizona manufacturing facility, but those components must be shipped back to Taiwan for final packaging processes.
Competing firm Amkor Technology announced last year its intention to construct a packaging facility in Arizona in partnership with Apple and Nvidia, with completion scheduled for mid-2027 and production beginning in early 2028, ahead of TSMC’s projected timeline. TSMC and Amkor revealed in 2024 their collaboration to bring multiple advanced packaging technologies to Arizona, though specific details of their partnership remain undisclosed.
Zhang indicated that technology discussions between Amkor and TSMC are continuing. “We are partnering with them to see what kind of technology capability they can offer to our customers in order to accelerate some of the products to be manufactured in the U.S.,” Zhang noted. “There are still some moving parts. I would say we are definitely looking at all possibilities to have a very diverse manufacturing footprint.”
