TSMC is considering changing the construction location of the second 2nm process plant

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Although TSMC has not officially launched the N3 manufacturing process, the related fabs for the N2 process are already under construction. According to TSMC’s plan, two plants will be built for the production of 2nm chips. The location of the first plant is located in the Hsinchu Science Park in Taiwan, and the second plant is rumored to be the earliest planned area in Taichung, Taiwan.

The first plant has built a new R&D facility last year, and TSMC said the project will be carried out in four phases. The rumors outlined that due to water resources, TSMC intends to change the location of the second fab. It is currently undergoing evaluation and the new location may be changed to near Kaohsiung, Taiwan. The Taichung area of ​​Taiwan has suffered a severe drought in the past period of time, and water use has also been greatly restricted, which has caused a lot of troubles to TSMC’s production.
TSMC N4 process
In a statement sent to the media by TSMC, it reiterated the originally planned construction site of the second fab (with a monthly capacity of 100,000 wafers) but admitted that it has not yet purchased the land and said that it has not yet made a final decision. There are many factors to consider.

According to the roadmap previously announced by TSMC, the N3 process will be put into production at the end of 2022, and improvements will be made between 2023 and 2024, while the N2 process may be put into production at the end of 2024 to sometime in 2025.

The initial production of the N2 process will be concentrated on the wafer fab in the Hsinchu Science Park in Taiwan, and the production capacity will be expanded in stages. After a certain scale, a new location will be needed to build a new wafer fab using the N2 process. This means that TSMC has enough time to evaluate the location of the second fab.

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