Taiwan's TSMC is expected to ramp up mass production of 3-nanometer (nanometer, one-billionth of a meter) chips not only at home but also at its U.S. and Japan plants starting next year. With current market demand outstripping capacity, the company plans to accelerate overseas mass production to keep rival Samsung Electronics in check.
According to Taiwan media including China Times on the 17th, TSMC Chair Wei Zhejia said at the first-quarter earnings briefing the previous day that, driven by demand for artificial intelligence (AI), the company will begin mass production of 3-nanometer process chips in Taiwan, the United States and Japan starting next year.
Wei said the company decided to expand new 3-nanometer plants simultaneously, explaining that a 3-nanometer plant being built in the Tainan Science Park in southern Taiwan will begin mass production in the first half of next year, while Arizona Fab 2 in the United States will adopt the 3-nanometer process and start mass production in the second half of next year. Japan's Kumamoto Fab 2, which has adopted 3-nanometer, is scheduled to begin mass production in 2028.
Wei said that as the industry shifts from Generative AI to Agentic AI, consumption of advanced chips is rising sharply, and the company will secure capacity in advance to meet strong customer demand for advanced nodes. He added that TSMC will make massive capital investments to prevent related orders from flowing to its competitor, Samsung Electronics.
Wei said 2-nanometer process products will go into mass production in the fourth quarter of this year at plants including Hsinchu and Kaohsiung in Taiwan. He added that the cutting-edge A14 (1.4-nanometer) process, which adopts a second-generation nanosheet transistor structure, is scheduled for mass production in 2028.