Friday, December 5th 2025

TSMC Arizona Supposedly Considering Conversion of "Phase 6 Fab" into Advanced Packaging Facility

Pleasing progress at TSMC's Arizona location has resulted in company leadership expediting a "push into advanced node deployment." Mid-October reports cited an increased domestic demand for 2 nm-class wafer products. Despite the foundry industry leader and NVIDIA's public celebration of debut "made in the USA" NVIDIA "Blackwell" wafers, TSMC's Phoenix-adjacent campus lacks in one key area: advanced packaging. Not long after the conclusion of festivities, computer hardware news outlets highlighted Fab 21-produced (4 nm) Blackwell products being sent overseas—specifically, back to Taiwan—for Chip on Wafer on Substrate (CoWoS) treatments.

Later on in October, TechPowerUp's AleksandarK covered the importance of advanced packaging on North American soil. His special editorial piece focuses on Intel Foundry's potential advantages in this area of expertise; thus poised to take a leading position within the region's semiconductor industry. Yesterday, Taiwan's Liberty Times outlined a major near-future change for one section's of TSMC Arizona's vast spread: "(leadership) plans to convert the land of the planned sixth phase fabrication plant (P6 fab) into an advanced packaging (AP) plant. If the construction goes smoothly, it is expected to be installed as early as the end of 2027 and enter the pre-production stage." Some of the claimed inside track timelines seems to roughly align with previous reports of TSMC and Amkor Technology's $7 billion forthcoming "advanced outsourced semiconductor packaging and testing" facility.
Sources: Liberty Times Taiwan, TrendForce, Wccftech, Semi Vision (Arizona site layout)
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10 Comments on TSMC Arizona Supposedly Considering Conversion of "Phase 6 Fab" into Advanced Packaging Facility

#1
RejZoR
Sending semi finished products back and forth across entire world just to complete them really makes so much sense... Made in USA yall!
Posted on Reply
#2
kondamin
Scrapping future production capacity in favour of packaging.
Smells like someone is seeing a drop in demand for the future.
Posted on Reply
#3
wNotyarD
kondaminScrapping future production capacity in favour of packaging.
Smells like someone is seeing a drop in demand for the future.
Improving logistics is a way to get finished products out the door. What good would be producing more unfinished goods only to hit a logistics bottleneck?
Posted on Reply
#4
kondamin
wNotyarDImproving logistics is a way to get finished products out the door. What good would be producing more unfinished goods only to hit a logistics bottleneck?
The way they are earning money and how willing the current legislature is in granting them money and permission, they could have just built the new fab and a packaging plant.
Posted on Reply
#5
Panther_Seraphin
kondaminThe way they are earning money and how willing the current legislature is in granting them money and permission, they could have just built the new fab and a packaging plant.
So that may sort the problem out for 2029/30 when a newly broken ground fab may come online but until then?

With the growth of Chiplet based products the need for CoWoS is going to grow in the short term.
Posted on Reply
#6
kondamin
Panther_SeraphinSo that may sort the problem out for 2029/30 when a newly broken ground fab may come online but until then?

With the growth of Chiplet based products the need for CoWoS is going to grow in the short term.
Both projects still need to be built so...
Posted on Reply
#7
Panther_Seraphin
kondaminBoth projects still need to be built so...
Agree but if you look at this statement they are planning to turn the 6th planned Fab into a packaging facility. There are still going to be 5 more fabs on site of which currently only the 1st is starting commercial production.

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/TSMC_Arizona

Plent of extra capacity going on there and probably just bringing up the packaging/finishing aspect up a little earlier than planned.
Posted on Reply
#8
Nhonho
I don't understand why chip manufacturers haven't yet switched to 450 mm wafers, which would create a domino effect of increased production and reduced chip prices.

That's a topic for a good article...

@T0@st
@AleksandarK
Posted on Reply
#9
AleksandarK
News Editor
NhonhoI don't understand why chip manufacturers haven't yet switched to 450 mm wafers, which would create a domino effect of increased production and reduced chip prices.

That's a topic for a good article...

@T0@st
@AleksandarK
Point of diminishing returns, also limited tools to process 450 mm, would take decades for the supply chain to adapt.
Posted on Reply
#10
Panther_Seraphin
Even just the supply of 450mm silicon ingots is a massive task unto itself.
Posted on Reply
Nov 11th, 2026 03:41 CST change timezone

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