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Taiwan Semiconductor (TSM) is set to begin moving chipmaking tools into its second Arizona fab around summer 2026, positioning the plant to start 3-nanometer production in 2027, Nikkei Asia reports. Sources say the equipment move is expected in the July–September quarter next year, accelerating a project previously slated to come online in 2028 and aligning with Chairman and CEO C.C. Wei’s push to speed up U.S. output by at least “several quarters.”

Installing tools is a major milestone, but industry executives told Nikkei Asia that qualifying production lines and ramping output can take up to a year—and longer for advanced nodes that involve more than 1,000 process steps and extensive transfer and verification work.

TSMC’s first advanced overseas fab in Arizona is already producing chips for Apple and Nvidia’s Blackwell AI processors. Once the $165 billion Arizona buildout is complete—five fabs, two advanced packaging plants and an R&D center—the company expects roughly 30% of its most advanced chips to be made in the U.S.

The push comes as U.S. customers accounted for 76% of TSMC revenue in the July–September quarter, driven by AI demand from clients such as Nvidia, Apple, AMD, Intel and Google. By contrast, TSMC has paused construction of its second Kumamoto fab in Japan amid weaker demand for mature chips and a reassessment of future needs.

Asked for comment, TSMC pointed to Wei’s October remarks: “With the strong collaboration and support from our leading US customers and the US federal, state, and city government, we continue to speed up our capacity expansion in Arizona. We are making tangible progress and executing well to our plan.”

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