Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing (NYSE:TSM) is expanding – again.
The company has announced plans to build several more chipmaking factories in the U.S. state of Arizona beyond the one it already has planned.
Taiwan Semiconductor, the world's largest contract chipmaker, announced in May 2020 that it would build a $12 billion U.S. factory in Arizona. The company is setting up a 12-inch wafer fabrication plant in Phoenix, and the facility is expected to start production in 2024.
Taiwan Semiconductor manufactures the bulk of its microchips in Taiwan and has older chip facilities in China and the U.S. state of Washington.
Now the company says it is planning up to five additional fabrication plants in Arizona. It’s not clear how much additional production capacity and investment the additional plants might represent, and which microchip manufacturing technology they would use.
Taiwan Semiconductor said last month that it planned to invest $100 billion U.S. over the next three years to increase production capacity, though it did not give specific details.
The administration of U.S. President Joe Biden is preparing to spend tens of billions of dollars to support domestic microchip manufacturing. Under existing legislation, foreign firms such as Taiwan Semiconductor are eligible for those funds, but whether they will ultimately receive money from the U.S. government remains to be seen.
