The first 20,000 wafers just released from TSMC's Arizona plant have to fly back to Taiwan for packaging, including NVIDIA, AMD and Apple. (Synopsis: TSMC Law says it will refute "cooperation with Intel", Wei Zhejia: technology will never flow out, there is no joint venture plan) (Background supplement: Huang Jenxun does not give up the Chinese market, and then pushes Blackwell's new chips to break through US control) TSMC, the world's largest wafer foundry, has finally handed over finished products at its first advanced plant in Arizona, USA: the first batch of about 20,000 wafers has been released, and customers lock in NVIDIA, AMD and Apple, covering Blackwell AI GPU, iPhone processor, and fifth-generation EPYC server chip. Although produced in the desert, the next stop for these wafers is not Silicon Valley, but Taoyuan and Kaohsiung. Back to Taiwan package to ship Chip manufacturing is divided into front-end process and back-end packaging. The front-end process has been completed in Arizona, but the CoWoS package for AI chips is still highly concentrated in Taiwan. TSMC is building a packaging plant with Amkor in the United States, with mass production as soon as 2026; Until then, Taiwan still has the world's most mature advanced packaging capacity, making it impossible for the supply chain to bypass Taiwan. Taiwan's production capacity is tight, CoWoS still has to double The demand for AI chips has pushed up TSMC's revenue this year, which is expected to increase by 25% annually, and also makes CoWoS production capacity full for a long time. TSMC CEO Wei Zhejia said at a legal briefing on April 18: "Our monthly CoWoS production capacity will double by 2025." According to the market interpretation, the monthly production capacity will reach about 44,000 pieces. TSMC has pledged to invest $165 billion in Arizona to build three fabs, two packaging plants and one R&D center to spread geopolitical risk, get closer to U.S. customers and compete for subsidies. The production cost per 300mm wafer is only less than 10% higher than in Taiwan, and the cost gap is offset by tariff exemptions and customer proximity benefits. The cargo journey from Taipei to Phoenix will be shortened to 14 hours due to Star Airlines' direct flight route in 2025, reducing wafer round-trip time, highlighting Taiwan's logistics role. UMC also announced a collaboration with Qualcomm on wafer-to-wafer (WoW) technology, demonstrating that local players are pursuing advanced packaging opportunities. However, outside scholars remind that once the core packaging process is moved out, Taiwan's "silicon shield" concept will be diluted, and Taiwan must accelerate the upgrade of packaging technology to maintain chip bargaining chips. Related reports Huang Jenxun does not give up the Chinese market, and then pushes Blackwell new chips to break through US control The US Department of Commerce warns the world that Huawei AI chips are not allowed: theft of US technology and violation of export controls will be punished 〈TSMC's Arizona factory's first wafer shipments! NVIDIA AI chip needs to be returned to the "Taiwan mother" package" This article was first published in BlockTempo's "Dynamic Region Trend - The Most Influential Blockchain News Media".
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The first batch of wafers from TSMC's Arizona factory has been dumped! NVIDIA AI chips need to go back to their "Taiwan home" for packaging.
The first 20,000 wafers just released from TSMC's Arizona plant have to fly back to Taiwan for packaging, including NVIDIA, AMD and Apple. (Synopsis: TSMC Law says it will refute "cooperation with Intel", Wei Zhejia: technology will never flow out, there is no joint venture plan) (Background supplement: Huang Jenxun does not give up the Chinese market, and then pushes Blackwell's new chips to break through US control) TSMC, the world's largest wafer foundry, has finally handed over finished products at its first advanced plant in Arizona, USA: the first batch of about 20,000 wafers has been released, and customers lock in NVIDIA, AMD and Apple, covering Blackwell AI GPU, iPhone processor, and fifth-generation EPYC server chip. Although produced in the desert, the next stop for these wafers is not Silicon Valley, but Taoyuan and Kaohsiung. Back to Taiwan package to ship Chip manufacturing is divided into front-end process and back-end packaging. The front-end process has been completed in Arizona, but the CoWoS package for AI chips is still highly concentrated in Taiwan. TSMC is building a packaging plant with Amkor in the United States, with mass production as soon as 2026; Until then, Taiwan still has the world's most mature advanced packaging capacity, making it impossible for the supply chain to bypass Taiwan. Taiwan's production capacity is tight, CoWoS still has to double The demand for AI chips has pushed up TSMC's revenue this year, which is expected to increase by 25% annually, and also makes CoWoS production capacity full for a long time. TSMC CEO Wei Zhejia said at a legal briefing on April 18: "Our monthly CoWoS production capacity will double by 2025." According to the market interpretation, the monthly production capacity will reach about 44,000 pieces. TSMC has pledged to invest $165 billion in Arizona to build three fabs, two packaging plants and one R&D center to spread geopolitical risk, get closer to U.S. customers and compete for subsidies. The production cost per 300mm wafer is only less than 10% higher than in Taiwan, and the cost gap is offset by tariff exemptions and customer proximity benefits. The cargo journey from Taipei to Phoenix will be shortened to 14 hours due to Star Airlines' direct flight route in 2025, reducing wafer round-trip time, highlighting Taiwan's logistics role. UMC also announced a collaboration with Qualcomm on wafer-to-wafer (WoW) technology, demonstrating that local players are pursuing advanced packaging opportunities. However, outside scholars remind that once the core packaging process is moved out, Taiwan's "silicon shield" concept will be diluted, and Taiwan must accelerate the upgrade of packaging technology to maintain chip bargaining chips. Related reports Huang Jenxun does not give up the Chinese market, and then pushes Blackwell new chips to break through US control The US Department of Commerce warns the world that Huawei AI chips are not allowed: theft of US technology and violation of export controls will be punished 〈TSMC's Arizona factory's first wafer shipments! NVIDIA AI chip needs to be returned to the "Taiwan mother" package" This article was first published in BlockTempo's "Dynamic Region Trend - The Most Influential Blockchain News Media".