Apple Plans To Source Chips From United States, Europe Raises Questions On TSMC

Apple is reportedly buying out a plant in Arizona, a development that could be bad news for Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC).

With about 60% of the chips the Cupertino company is using originating from Taiwan, the shift to a new factory in Arizona could be telling what Apple has up its sleeves.

According to Mark Gurman of Bloomberg, Apple is gearing up to source chips from a factory in the United States in the next couple of years. The said plan was revealed no less by Apple CEO Tim Cook during a meeting with local engineers and retail employees in Germany.

Should this fall through, it means that Apple would be less-reliant on factories in Asia.

"Regardless of what you may feel and think, 60 percent coming out of anywhere is probably not a strategic position," Cook stated.

TSMC is Apple’s exclusive chip-making partner although it also includes NVIDIA, MediaTek, AMD and ARM.

The Arizona plant is reportedly under construction and is allegedly set to start operations in 2024, Engadget reported. Once up, the factory is expected to produce about 20,000 chips a month. Aside from that, the Arizona plans can reportedly manufacture 5-nanometer processors.

This comes not long after Apple is allegedly planning to adopt the new 3-nanometer chipmaking process of TSMC. It would be the latest and most advanced chips, something that Apple could use in its future devices.

Apple is reportedly developing A17 mobile processors that would be used for its 2023 iPhone lineup, something that will also be mass-produced using new technology, the Financial Times reported.

Further adding spice to these reports is Cook telling staff members that they will source out in Europe. The region is looking to entice semiconductor manufacturers to open plants in the region and introduce the EU Chips Act in April. This is seen as a measure to bolster its competitiveness and resiliency as far as semiconductor technologies and applications.