Construction of new TSMC chip factories for 1.4 nanometer CPUs to begin in 2025

TSMC will begin construction of four new chip factories later this year, which will be grouped together as "Fab 25" and will be able to produce 1.4-nanometer class processors from the end of 2028. The production facilities will be built in the middle of Taiwan in the so-called "Central Taiwan Science Park", explained the head of this industrial park on Friday at an anniversary event to mark the 22nd anniversary of this complex.

TSMC (Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company) is currently starting mass production of 2-nanometer class chips, first for Apple and then for AMD and Intel. The company calls this process N2. However, the manufacturing processes will be converted and refined over the next few years, the global market leader explained in April of this year. TSMC's chip production plans until 2029 initially envisage an improvement of N2 in 1.6 nanometers with A16. With A14 for 2028, TSMC will further develop the transistor structure. Compared to N2, A14 should enable up to 15 percent more performance or 30 percent less power consumption.

Fab 25 for A14 process to deliver in 2028

The new chip factories that have now been announced will be built for this A14 process, reports the Taipei Times. TSMC has leased the relevant land and the Central Taiwan Science Park officially handed it over to the company last month, said Maw-Shin Hsu, general manager of the industrial park. The expansion of the industrial park will be accompanied by the construction of retention basins and other structures to protect soil and water, Hsu added.

TSMC's roadmap is to complete the high-risk production of A14 wafers by 2027 and start mass production by the end of 2028. The goal is to produce 50,000 wafers per month. However, due to the finer production technology, it is still unclear how many chips can actually be produced from one wafer.

Four of eleven planned new TSMC chip factories

TSMC Chairman C.C. Wei stated last week after the presentation of the latest quarterly figures that the company plans to build "eleven wafer fabs and four advanced packaging plants in Taiwan over the next few years". The four new A14 chip factories are likely to be among these eleven. In addition, the 2-nanometer factories in both Hsinchu in northwestern Taiwan and Kaohsiung in southern Taiwan will be expanded in several phases due to high demand.

The Central Taiwan Science Park near the city of Taichung currently covers a total area of 1,486 hectares. Around 53,000 people will work there in 2022, Taiwan News reported. According to the Taipei Times, TSMC generated just over 42 percent of this industrial park's turnover in 2021. With the four new chip factories, TSMC's share is likely to increase further.

(fds)