TSMC Arizona to welcome new president in October

Taipei, Sept. 18 (CNA) Contract chipmaker Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. (TSMC) has appointed Rose Castanares, executive vice president of TSMC Arizona as president of the subsidiary, which is responsible for carrying out massive investments by the Taiwanese tech giant in the U.S. state.

In a statement, TSMC on Wednesday cited a recent internal announcement as saying Castanares will succeed Brian Harrison as president of the Arizona subsidiary on Oct. 1 after the incumbent president steps down from the position with a transfer to the Arizona CEO office to serve as an advisor to TSMC Arizona's chairman.

According to TSMC, Harrison is scheduled to retire on Dec. 31.

Data published by LinkedIn, a social network that focuses on professional networking and career development, shows Castanares joined TSMC in 1998, and during her 26 years and nine months working for the chipmaker, once served as the senior vice president of business management at TSMC North America.

In Arizona, TSMC is building two advanced fabs with the first scheduled to start mass production in the first half of 2025, using the sophisticated 4 nanometer process, while the second is slated to mass produce wafers using the 3nm and 2nm processes in 2028 to tap into solid demand for artificial intelligence applications.

The 3nm process is the latest technology the company began commercial production.

TSMC has announced a plan to build a third fab in Arizona using the 2nm process or more advanced technology with production slated to start by the end of 2030, boosting its total investment in Arizona to top US$65 billion.

According to TSMC, like all of its advanced fabs, the three facilities in Arizona will have a cleanroom area approximately double the size of an industry standard logic fab.

In April, the U.S. Department of Commerce announced it has signed a non-binding preliminary memorandum of terms (PMT) with TSMC for up to US$6.6 billion in direct funding under the CHIPS and Science Act for its investments in Arizona.

On Sept. 7, TSMC said its investment project in Arizona has been "proceeding as planned with good progression", but the company did not give any information on the yield rate at the first advanced plant.

The comments came after Bloomberg News reported a day earlier that in the trial phase, production yields at TSMC's first advanced wafer fab in Arizona were on par with its established plants in Tainan that roll out chips using the 3nm process.