TSMC announcement could actually be a step backwards for US Apple chips

Yesterday’s TSMC announcement of a $100B investment in the US was notable for its lack of any specifics – including whether any of the money had been announced previously. But a new investment note suggests that it could even represent a backwards step when it comes to making Apple chips in the US … The story so far Apple first announced its plan for ‘Made in America’ chips back in 2022, with the news hailed as one of the success stories of the US CHIPS Act. The initiative will see a series of TSMC chipmaking plants built in Arizona, with some of the production reserved for Apple chips for older devices. The project has been beset with delays and uncertainties. Mass production at the first plant was due to start last year and was then pushed back to this year. There were question marks over whether raw chips fabricated in the US would need to be shipped back to Taiwan for packaging (the name given to combining individual chips into the type of System-On-a-Chip combo used by Apple) ... Read full article.