Apple is the most important customer for TSMC as they are seen as an early investor in their processing chip manufacturing technology. Now, with TSMC's processing chip manufacturing plant in Phoenix, Arizona already open, Apple is the first customer of the products coming out of the factory.
Although the factory produces the components for the chip, the components for the Apple Bionic processing chip in particular still need to be sent back to Taiwan for the assembly or packaging process. This process is important to ensure that this processing chip to improve its power consumption efficiency and performance, and the Apple Bionic chip uses a unique assembly process developed by TSMC since 2016.
Interestingly, this is only for the Apple Bionic processing chip. For Apple M processing chips used in Mac, MacBook, iPad and so on devices, the chips can be assembled in factories outside Taiwan.
For other American customers such as AMD, NVIDIA and Tesla, it was reported by The Information that they are also seen facing the same issue, where chips manufactured in the United States will still need to be sent to Taiwan to go through this packaging process.
TSMC has recently completed developing a processing chip manufacturing plant in the United States, aided by the government through the CHIPS Act which provides a financial injection to ensure that the country has an adequate supply of processing chips, especially after the crisis that gripped the world during the COVID-19 pandemic.
TSMC, along with Intel, Samsung and others are some of those who get a cut from the $50 billion injection to develop these infrastructures in the country.