The effect created by TSMC’s establishment of factories in Taiwan, Japan and other places is now being staged in North Phoenix, Arizona. The local real estate market has become hotter, job opportunities have increased significantly, and vendors have also settled in. give Phoenix the opportunity to realize the ambitions of “Desert Silicon Valley”.
Yalin Chen Dorman, a ten-year real estate agent in Phoenix, Arizona, recently found that her business north of the deserted city has been keeping her busy, reports Nikkei Asia. She said, “After TSMC announced the opening of the factory in mid-2020, I immediately received many inquiries from customers, mainly from the Asian community who lived in California at first, and then from customers in the United States.” .
About 70% of Dorman’s listings for sale last year have been sold, 70% of them to investors betting on a local semiconductor boom. He added that before TSMC set up a factory, people only came to the area when they went to ski resorts or to get close to nature.
Two years ago, this 400-hectare land, about half of Hsinchu Science Park, had no water or electricity. Now 9,000 construction workers are working hard to build TSMC’s first advanced process factory in the United States in 20 years. .
TSMC’s establishment of factories also had the effect of increasing real estate demand in Taiwan and Japan, and now the same phenomenon is taking place in the United States, highlighting the ferment of state reconstruction of semiconductor policies in the United States .
The first phase of TSMC’s $40 billion plant plan is expected to begin manufacturing 4-nanometer chips in 2024, and the second phase plans to produce 3-nanometer chips by 2026.
Huang Renxun, CEO of Nvidia, said at TSMC’s handover ceremony on December 6, “This is a technological miracle rising from the desert. Our most advanced chips are all built in TSMC’s most advanced factories. I sincerely hope that this practice Keep on.”
The real estate sector is booming, because in addition to funding, TSMC also employs engineers here: 600 “seed” engineers sent from Taiwan to the United States will work in Phoenix for at least three years until 2025. They live in the so-called “Taiwan Ji Village is usually a small community under construction, offering one- to three-bedroom apartments for rent, with resort-style pools and gyms.
TSMC’s suppliers have also rushed into the desert: for example, Sunlit Chemical, a supplier of hydrofluoric acid, and LCY Chemical, a producer of electronic grade isopropanol, have already established themselves to meet local needs.
Bertrand Lcy, CEO of Entegris, a supplier to TSMC and a US manufacturer of chip material, said it is considering increasing production capacity in the US and Asia, but no US locations have been selected.
According to TSMC estimates, the plan to establish a plant in Arizona will create at least 4,500 direct jobs and 10,000 supply chain jobs.
According to the latest data from the US Semiconductor Industry Association (SIA), the CHIPS Act introduced by Washington has brought many investments across the United States, and the Greater Phoenix area is by far the largest beneficiary. Intel is also spending $20 billion to expand its factory in Chandler, state.
“There are 100,000 semiconductor jobs in Arizona and counting. TSMC is spurring growth in North Phoenix,” said Chris Camacho, chairman of the Greater Phoenix Economic Council.
But capital and an optimistic mood cannot guarantee success. TSMC also tried to open a factory in the United States in 1980, but the dream didn’t come true. Founder Zhang Zhongmou even described the situation that year as a “nightmare”. cost, culture shock, and difficulty in hiring were all factors.
This time around, TSMC hasn’t underestimated the challenges ahead. An employee of TSMC told Nikkei Asia, “For us, the success of the new factory is really unknown. As the founder said, there is still a lot of hard work to be done. This is the pioneer – we don’t know where this will take us.” adventure.
