Apple Silicon supplier, the Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC), is looking to build a new plant in Singapore in an effort to help ease the ongoing global chip shortage, a recent report revealed.
TSMC in talks to build a new multi-billion dollar chip plant in Singapore
TSMC creates all of Apple’s custom Silicon chips such as the A15 Bionic for iPhones and the M1 for Macs. Since Apple is one of TSMC’s biggest customers, the chipmaker worked overtime to ensure that its orders would not be affected due to the ongoing global chip shortage. However, the company still faced supply chain issues – which it now plans to ease.
According to the Wall Street Journal, TSMC is currently in preliminary talks with Singapore’s Economic Development Board about building a new multi-billion dollar factory there.
As per the report, no decision has been made as of yet but the chipmaker is arranging for the local government to help fund the project. Multiple governments have increased their attempts to attract chipmakers in an effort to reduce reliance on Taiwan and China which will ultimately alleviate the global chip shortage.
“Securing supply chains for essential components is a key issue for the Singapore government,” an unspecified source told the WSJ, “and it is following in the footsteps of the US and Japan.”
Another source told the publication that the company will manufacture between 7-nanometer and 28-nanometer processors at this facility. Note that the tech giant’s latest Apple Silicon chips are produced using TSMC’s 5-nanometer process which means that if a new facility is opened in Singapore, it would not be used for those. However, the new facility could alleviate production burdens at other factories and address global shortages.
The chipmaker is also building a $12 billion factory in Arizona however, production for the plant has been delayed due to labor shortages and COVID-19 related issues. The company is also building a new production facility in Japan.
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