TSMC drops $49B on 1.4nm mega plants
TSMC plans to build four new semiconductor fabrication plants at the Central Taiwan Science Park dedicated to 1.4-nanometer chip production, according to a report citing the company’s land lease submission. The project, with an initial investment of approximately 1.5 trillion New Taiwan dollars (roughly $49 billion), is expected to create between 8,000 and 10,000 jobs upon completion.
Risk production could begin at one facility by late 2027, with full-scale manufacturing slated for the second half of 2028. Each plant is projected to generate more than 500 billion New Taiwan dollars (16.26 billion dollars) in annual revenue at full capacity, potentially totaling 65 billion dollars across all four fabs. Notably, TSMC intends to achieve 1.4nm production without purchasing ASML’s next-generation High-NA EUV lithography machines, instead relying on advanced photomask pellicles to improve yields.
Wafer costs for the 1.4nm process, also known as A14, could reach 45,000 dollars each. Apple is expected to be the first customer, following its pattern of securing early access to TSMC’s most advanced nodes, including more than half of the initial 2nm supply. NVIDIA currently remains the sole known client for TSMC’s slightly older 1.6nm (A16) process.
