TSMC has delayed the start of a chip factory in Arizona that will make Apple chips
Workers at the TSMC Semiconductor Manufacturing Facility in Phoenix, Arizona on December 6, 2022.
Brendan Smielowski | AFP | Getty Images
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company will delay production at its new chip plant in Arizona until 2025 due to a shortage of skilled labor, the company’s chairman said on Thursday during the company’s second-quarter earnings call.
an apple said it plans to use computer chips made at TSMC’s facilities in Arizona.
TSMC Chairman Mark Liu told analysts during Thursday’s earnings call that the company lacks skilled workers to install modern equipment at the plant on the original schedule. The company previously expected to start producing 5-nanometer chips in 2024.
Liu said the company is working to send trained technicians from Taiwan to train local workers to speed up installation.
The US has launched a major push to bring semiconductor manufacturing back home, including by funding the multibillion-dollar Chip and Science Act to develop turbocharging. The pandemic has highlighted the U.S.’s heavy reliance on countries such as Taiwan for computer chip development, posing national security risks and giving the U.S. less control over the supply chain.
Subscribe to CNBC on YouTube.
WATCH: First look at TSMC’s giant 5nm chip factory under construction in Phoenix
