With the intensification of TSMC’s efforts to build factories outside of Taiwan, the main position of the production strategy has remained unchanged: advanced technological processes are the first to be mastered on the island, and this is even enshrined in law. In the south of Taiwan, installation of equipment recently began at the second enterprise, which in the future will be capable of producing 2nm chips.
Image Source: TSMC
This was reported by the Economic Daily News, which noted that TSMC initially planned to begin installing equipment at the new plant in Kaohsiung only in the third quarter of next year, but accelerated the process by about six months. Built in advance in the south of the island, the enterprise was initially supposed to specialize in more mature technical processes, but in August 2023, the TSMC board of directors decided to repurpose it for the future production of 2nm products.
This will be TSMC’s most advanced facility in southern Taiwan, as the first to master the 2nm process is another one located in the northwest of the island in Hsinchu. Here, installation of equipment began in April 2024, but both enterprises should now begin producing 2nm products during 2025. It is possible that the customers of the enterprise in Kaohsiung will include Apple and AMD, which will begin to receive their 2nm products from TSMC.
In the south of the island in Tainan, TSMC enterprises are also concentrated, currently producing 3nm products. If progress in the development of 2nm technology remains at a decent level, then they may also switch to producing 2nm products in the future.