TSMC evaluating Texas production, cooperation with Terafab

Taipei, Oct. 15 (CNA) C. C. Wei (魏哲家), Chairman and CEO of Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. (TSMC), said Thursday that the chipmaker is evaluating the possibility of collaborating with Elon Musk's Terafab project in Texas.

Speaking at an investor conference, Wei said that while cooperation with Terafab was possible, any fab should be run by TSMC to control production.

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He emphasized that the possible cooperation with the Terafab project was at the discussion stage.

Wei's remarks came after Musk said on social media that it was possible TSMC could sublease part of Terafab "but nothing more than that."

Wei said TSMC is working hard to expand its capacity in the United States and the expansion is necessary as its major American clients have asked the chipmaker to raise production to meet their demand. He added that the U.S. government has provided necessary assistance to TSMC for expansion.

He added that on the back of strong demand for smartphones, high-performance computing devices and artificial intelligence applications, TSMC's production capacity using its latest-generation 2-nanometer process will more than double from a year earlier in 2027.

Meanwhile, Wei said TSMC is developing the A14 process and trial production is slated for 2027 before mass production is scheduled to begin in 2028.

Compared with the 2nm process, the A14 process is expected to offer a 10-15 percent speed improvement at the same power, or a 25-30 percent power reduction at the same speed, while the new process is expected to boost logic density by almost 20 percent, according to TSMC.

According to Wei, nearly 20 fab projects worldwide are currently underway, including three new 3nm fabs.

In Taiwan, a 3nm fab in Tainan is expected to begin mass production in the first half of 2027, while another 3nm fab is also planned in Tainan and will start commercial production in the first half of 2028, Wei said.

In Arizona, a second fab using the 2nm process will start mass production in the third quarter of 2027, he added.