Taiwanese chipmaker delays by a year massive Arizona project touted by Biden

The Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC) will delay production at a factory in Arizona amid a shortage of skilled workers, the company’s chairman said on Thursday.

TSMC now plans to start producing 5-nanometer chips at the Phoenix plant in 2025, a year later than previously anticipated, Chairman Mark Liu said on the company’s second quarter earnings call.

“We are encountering certain challenges, as there is an insufficient amount of skilled workers with those specialized expertise required for equipment installation in a semiconductor-grade facility,” Liu said.

“While we are working to improve the situation, including sending experienced technicians from Taiwan to train the local skilled workers for a short period of time, we expect the production schedule of N4 process technology to be pushed out to 2025,” he added.

Liu did not mention any impact on the timeline of a second facility that TSMC plans to build in Arizona, which is expected to begin producing 3-nanometer chips by 2026. 

The company announced its plans to construct the second plant and increase its investment in the state of Arizona from $12 billion to $40 billion in December, when President Biden paid a visit to its Phoenix factory to highlight his efforts to boost American semiconductor manufacturing.

TSMC, which is the world’s largest contract chipmaker and a major supplier to Apple, also reported on Thursday that it expects to see a 10 percent decrease in revenue in 2023.