Apple is preparing to begin sourcing chips for its devices from a plant under construction in Arizona in the US, Bloomberg News reported on Tuesday. The company may also expand its supply of chips from plants in Europe, the report said, attributing it to remarks by Chief Executive Officer Tim Cook at an internal meeting in Germany with local engineering and retail employees.
The Cupertino company declined to comment when contacted by Reuters. According to the report, Cook was likely referring to an Arizona factory that will be run by Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing (TSMC), the world’s largest contract chipmaker and a major supplier to Apple.
Last year, TSMC said it had started construction at a site in Arizona where it planned to spend $12 billion (roughly Rs. 98,000 crore) to build a computer chip factory, and planned to start volume production of chips using its 5-nanometer production technology in 2024.
Earlier this month, TSMC also said it was constructing a building that could serve as its second chip factory in Arizona.
In October, the world’s largest contract chipmaker, reported an 80 percent on-year surge in profit for the July-September period of 2022, the strongest growth in two years. However, TSMC also trimmed capital spending by at least 10 percent for this year. TSMC, Asia’s most valuable listed company, said it was being more conservative in planning investments for 2023, but still expected “a growth year”.
The United States has been encouraging foreign tech firms to manufacture in the country and has actively supported local research, development and manufacturing after passing its CHIPS Act.
Last month, Apple said it would make fresh investments to set up solar and wind projects in Europe and called on its suppliers to decarbonize operations related to the production of iPhones and other products.
The company in 2020 had pledged to remove carbon emissions from its entire business, including products and its sprawling supply chain – which spans from Vietnam to Brazil – by 2030.
© Thomson Reuters 2022