TSMC's Fab 21 in Arizona has not yet fully commenced its first phase of mass production, but it is already producing Apple's A16 chip. Additionally, AMD may become the second major customer for Fab 21 after Apple, which is not surprising given that AMD announced a year ago its intention to be among the initial customers of this fab.
Citing industry sources, independent journalist Tim Culpan pointed out that TSMC's Arizona Fab 21 will manufacture high-performance chips for AMD and is currently in the production planning phase. It is expected to enter the tape-out phase by 2025 and commence production, potentially utilizing the N4 process node.
TSMC has not confirmed this report. However, AMD CEO Lisa Su hinted at this order as early as September 2023, during the Goldman Sachs Communacopia & Technology event. She noted that TSMC's Arizona plant is very important for AMD, stating, "We will be one of the early-stage customers. As a key client of the Arizona fab, we will soon initiate our first chip tape out process."
She also emphasized that TSMC has always been an outstanding partner for AMD in advanced technologies, both in wafer manufacturing and packaging. At that time, Fab 21 faced delays due to equipment installation issues and labor disputes, pushing back the mass production timeline to 2025, but Su maintained her confidence in TSMC.
It remains unclear which products AMD plans to commission Fab 21 to produce. Tom's Hardware commented that considering Fab 21's first phase will only introduce processes like N4 and N5, the orders from AMD are unlikely to involve consumer-grade processors more advanced than the RDNA 3 or Zen 4 architectures.
As for data center-level or AI processors, it is known that AMD plans to launch the Instinct MI325X within 2024, followed by the MI350 and MI400 in 2025 and 2026, respectively. Narrowing down to the recent MI325X and MI350, since these two products are expected to utilize N4 and N3 processes, the MI325X seems more likely.
Based on this speculation, the MI325X might first be released in the fourth quarter of 2024, with production handed over to Fab 21 in 2025. There is also the possibility that AMD could commission Fab 21 to manufacture new products that have not yet been disclosed to the public.
Although it is anticipated that products manufactured at Fab 21 will still be sent back to Taiwan for packaging in the foreseeable future, TSMC's partner Amkor has announced at the end of 2023 that it plans to build a packaging and testing facility in Arizona. In October 2024, they further announced a collaboration with TSMC in advanced packaging technologies such as InFO and CoWoS.
Once Amkor's new packaging and testing plant is operational, it theoretically enables TSMC to complete the packaging process locally in Arizona, especially since CoWoS technology is crucial for manufacturing AI processors. AMD's commissioning Fab 21 to produce high-performance chips holds significant implications for the US, as it represents a step closer to establishing a complete domestic supply chain for AI.
