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Apple wants to reduce its dependence on the Asian supply chain as for the chip production. According to Bloombergthe Cupertino house would be willing to diversify the geography of its supplies, focusing on thepurchase of chips from a plant currently under construction in Arizona and opening up the possibility of doing the same from establishments located in Europe.
“We already have made the decision to purchase from a plant in Arizona due to start up in 2024so we have about two years ahead of us on that front, maybe a little less,” Apple CEO Tim Cook reportedly said during a meeting with employees in Germany. “And as for Europe, I’m sure we will also source from Europe as these plans become more apparent,” he added.
The options available to Apple to produce in Arizona are basically two: the first, more plausible, is that of TSMC extension. The Taiwanese “foundry”, already Apple’s exclusive partner, aims to open its own production plant in 2024 (work is already in progress). According to rumors, the Asian company is also considering building a second Fab in Arizona to diversify the location of its plants and guarantee greater volumes.
The second choice, less probable but more suggestive, is that of intel. The PC microchip giant has also started construction of two production plants – Fab 52 and Fab 62 – which will be operational in 2024. Having Apple among its customers would be a big coup for Intel’s nascent contract manufacturing business. the Intel Foundry Services division.
At the same time Apple should adapt its designs to Intel’s production processes, starting a new relationship to be discovered: everything could go well or, on the contrary, everything could go wrong. In jargon it is said “whoever leaves the old way for the new, he knows what he leaves, and does not know what he finds”.
The United States and the European Union have announced with their respective CHIPS Acts a tens of billions package of incentives and concessions to build a stronger production chain in their respective territories, allowing local realities to detach themselves from Asia. This is not only due to the desire to compete in a crucial sector such as technology or the need to circumvent unpredictable problems such as a new pandemic, but also to the tensions over Taiwan that hover in relations between China and the United States.
According to Tim Cook, 60% of the world’s processor production comes from Taiwana situation that the CEO would have defined “not strategicAt the moment, Apple is tied “hands and feet” to Taiwan for the production of its devices, iPhone in the lead, so moving part of the production to the United States would be an important step from many points of view.
It remains though an unknown factor on the TSMC-Arizona scenario: the Fab, according to the plans known at the moment, should guarantee an initial production of 20,000 wafers per month of 5-nanometer chips, inadequate numbers to satisfy the wishes of the Cupertino house in terms of volumes and technological progress.
TSMC could revise its plans to satisfy Apple or, more simply, Apple could use the plant initially to produce less complex chips than the SoC at the heart of its devices, be they iPhones or Macs.
As for production in Europe, setting aside the Intel scenario and its expansion plan in the Old Continent, for months there have been rumors (so far denied) of an interest by TSMC for production in Germany. Apple has a large engineering hub in the country, so much so that last year it announced investments of 1 billion euros in Munich. A production plant “in the area” could be useful for you.
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