Leading chip manufacturers Samsung and TSMC are already drafting plans for their respective 2nm manufacturing. According to a recent report by the SCMP (South China Morning Post) and the Korean Times, Samsung is planning to start 2nm manufacturing in South Korea next year. The company is also investing a total of KRW 500 trillion ($371 billion) by 2047 into a “mega-cluster” semiconductor plant near Seoul, consisting of 13 chip plants and three research facilities where 2nm manufacturing will take place.
As for TSMC (Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company Limited), it plans to build 2nm chip fabrication plants and science parks in Hsinchu and Kaohsiung in Taiwan as well as another plant in Taichung, still waiting on government approval.
While neither company has outright abandoned its manufacturing projects in other countries, progress has been slow and plagued with issues. The US famously has the CHIPS and Science Act with $53 billion earmarked for subsidies. Apparently, payouts from said fund have been slow. Plus, both companies have been experiencing local talent shortages. Local unions have also stopped TSMC from importing specialists from Taiwan.
Still, TSMC has two chip plants under construction in Arizona, which are expected to start pumping out 4nm chips in 2024 and 3nm ones by 2026. Barring any further setbacks, of course. Samsung has been building its own $17 billion plant in Texas since 2021, but progress has been slow, and it is expected to handle only 4nm nodes.
Expansion has been slower or even non-progressing for other places like Europe, Japan, and India, which have also revealed plans for semiconductor manufacturing subsidies. So, even though some progress has been made and is underway, diversification of cutting-edge chip manufacturing is expectedly proving to be a very tough challenge.
