News 5nm in the USA: TSMC's Board Approves $3.5 Billion Fab in Arizona

[Admin]

TSMC's board approves investment in U.S. fab, but Taiwan set to remain company’s stronghold.

5nm in the USA: TSMC's Board Approves $3.5 Billion Fab in Arizona : Read more

 

[mihen]

Arizona and Nevada make alot of sense for manufacturing. The climate makes the region capable of manufacturing 24/7 365. The issue is really with the supply chain. Lack of infrastructure and access to resources.

 

[nofanneeded]

Arizona and Nevada make alot of sense for manufacturing. The climate makes the region capable of manufacturing 24/7 365. The issue is really with the supply chain. Lack of infrastructure and access to resources.

How is that true ? Nevada is very hot and needs air conditioning half of the year. reaches 120F...

 

[GenericUser]

The issue is really with the supply chain. Lack of infrastructure and access to resources.

Well, the article implies that supply infrastructure isn't going to be an issue:

In total, TSMC plans to spend $12 billion on its fab in Arizona from 2021 to 2029. The factory will employ about 1,600 people directly and thousands more indirectly. Keeping in mind that Intel Corp. already has multiple fabs in Arizona and Oregon, TSMC will not have to build a semiconductor industry supply chain from scratch, but rely on local suppliers.

 

[jkflipflop98]

The climate is irrelevant when you're talking about a fab facility. The air inside is conditioned, humidfied, and filtered 10 times a minute.
The real boon here is that they can piggyback off Intel's supply chain in the area to get up and functional fast.

 

[gg83]

And don't forget about the potential for solar power. It gets very cold at night in the desert so that will save power half of the day maybe.

 

[nofanneeded]

I think high tech fabs should be located in better areas with better climate and more green zones , not the desert .

People who will work there are highly educated graduates and I hate working there all my life.

They deserve better life.

 

[jimmysmitty]

Arizona and Nevada make alot of sense for manufacturing. The climate makes the region capable of manufacturing 24/7 365. The issue is really with the supply chain. Lack of infrastructure and access to resources.

I would bet they will also probably go to Chandler like Intel is currently in since it will have more of the supply chain developed.

And don't forget about the potential for solar power. It gets very cold at night in the desert so that will save power half of the day maybe.

Yea not quite. There are days here in Arzona during the summer where it never drops below 90F even at night. But other than a couple of months of extreme heat its nive the rest of the year.

I think high tech fabs should be located in better areas with better climate and more green zones , not the desert .

People who will work there are highly educated graduates and I hate working there all my life.

They deserve better life.

Most green zones have multiple seasons and other weather issues that make it harder to manufacture year round. Here in Arizona we have monsoon season which can be bad but its only for a few days out of a few months of the year.

You can golf during winter here, there are plenty of lakes and green areas close enough by to be able to make a weekend trip to (Flagstaff is very green and Lake Pleasant is pretty big). Its not as bad as people make it out to be. Sure when its hot its very hot but its a decent place to live. We don't have earthquakes and are not super expensive (California), Hurricanes (east coast/gulf coast), rarely a tornado (Midwest) and we don't freeze over often (super rare but we do get snow or very cold once in a while).

For a business its damn near perfect especially if they are manufacturing products.

 

[nofanneeded]

Most green zones have multiple seasons and other weather issues that make it harder to manufacture year round. Here in Arizona we have monsoon season which can be bad but its only for a few days out of a few months of the year.

You can golf during winter here, there are plenty of lakes and green areas close enough by to be able to make a weekend trip to (Flagstaff is very green and Lake Pleasant is pretty big). Its not as bad as people make it out to be. Sure when its hot its very hot but its a decent place to live. We don't have earthquakes and are not super expensive (California), Hurricanes (east coast/gulf coast), rarely a tornado (Midwest) and we don't freeze over often (super rare but we do get snow or very cold once in a while).

For a business its damn near perfect especially if they are manufacturing products.

I know but still ...

Intel Fab 24 Ireland

Intel Fab 42 Arizona

 

[mihen]

Looked into it a bit further. Arizona makes perfect sense for a Fab if its for AMD CPUs, Apple, and Foxconn. Close to resource production and board partners in the US.

 

[intelProcessEng]

How is that true ? Nevada is very hot and needs air conditioning half of the year. reaches 120F...

The benefits or Arizona are stable geology, dry air, and stable weather. The most critical of these three is stable geology because even the smallest of vibrations can impact lithography operations.

All Fabs are climate controlled of course, but the better the surrounding environment is, the lower the facilities burden to control a Fab's climate becomes. If the air outside is an order of magnitude lower, your filters only need to be 1/10th as effective.

However all of this is trumped by the real benefit of Arizona. Cheap land, relatively cheap cost of living which results in cheaper workers, yet a high talent pool because of the population and other technology businesses.

 

[jimmysmitty]

I know but still ...

Intel Fab 24 Ireland

Intel Fab 42 Arizona

Ireland is beautiful. I would love to visit. But Arizona has beauty as well and some people really prefer it. Lots of amazing places to see here.

 

[Littlerayofsunshine]

The climate is irrelevant when you're talking about a fab facility. The air inside is conditioned, humidfied, and filtered 10 times a minute.
The real boon here is that they can piggyback off Intel's supply chain in the area to get up and functional fast.

There are more fabs in the Phoenix area than just Intel, although it is the largest. Supply Chain will not be an issue here at all.

 

[Littlerayofsunshine]

And don't forget about the potential for solar power. It gets very cold at night in the desert so that will save power half of the day maybe.

It does not get very cold in the desert at night in the summer. It is still in the 90's at 3a.m.