TSMC is the biggest maker of advanced chips and Apple is its biggest customer. Since China thinks of Taiwan as a breakaway province and relations between the two are deteriorating sharply, an Arizona-based factory will help shelter American companies reliant on TSMC from the effects of any potential clash between China and Taiwan.
So, for now, as SemiAnalysis chief analyst Dylan Patel puts it, the Arizona factory is nothing more than a paperweight.
The TSMC Arizona fab is effectively a paperweight in any geopolitical tension or war [with China over Taiwan] due to the fact that it still requires sending the chips back to Taiwan for packaging.” – Dylan Patel
So, in the beginning, TSMC Arizona will only be able to make and assemble chips for Macs and iPads. However, since Apple is an important customer and the US government is offering billions in subsidies for those offering advanced packaging facilities in the country, TSMC might eventually construct a packaging plant in the US for iPhone chips.
