TSMC is planning to build at least 15 new fabs “over the next several years,” including 11 new fabrication plants and four advanced packaging facilities in Taiwan.

The chipmaker is also aiming to start mass production of N2 (2nm) wafers by the second half of 2025, with high-volume manufacturing of its A16 (1.6nm) technology slated for the second half of 2026.

"In Taiwan, with support from the Taiwan government, we plan to build 11 wafer manufacturing fabs and four advanced packaging facilities over the next several years," said C.C. Wei, chairman and CEO of TSMC, during the company’s quarterly earnings call last week. "We are preparing for multiple phases of 2nm fabs in both Hsinchu and Kaohsiung Science Parks to support the strong structural demand from our customers."

The chipmaker posted revenues of ~$30 billion for Q2 2025, a 38.6 percent increase on Q2 2024, and a 17.8 percent growth on Q1 2025. Of the quarterly revenue, 60 percent resulted from the manufacturing of chips serving what TSMC calls ‘HPC,’ with the company noting that increased demand from AI and HPC customers had driven the revenue growth for the quarter.

Outside of Taiwan, the chipmaker also has fabs underway in Japan, Germany, and Arizona in the US, with Wei saying on the same earnings call that “about 30 percent of our 2nm and more advanced capacity will be located in Arizona, creating an independent leading-edge semiconductor manufacturing cluster in the US.”

However, despite the chipmaker investing significantly in manufacturing facilities outside of Taiwan, many of those projects have been subject to delays and construction incidents, with reports surfacing recently that claim TSMC has delayed construction at its second chip fab in Japan in order to prioritize the expansion of its manufacturing base in the US – a facility which itself has suffered delays in the past.

That report followed the announcement that the director and chairman of TSMC Arizona, Rick Cassidy, had resigned effective immediately on July 1. That same week, a construction worker was injured at the site of TSMC’s Arizona chip fab. The unnamed male worker was taken to the hospital in a “serious condition” having suffered broken bones, local news outlets reported.

Prior to that incident, following the death of 41-year-old Cesar Anguiano-Guitron at the same site in May 2024, the Arizona Division of Occupational Safety and Health (ADOSH) issued TSMC with a fine of $16,131 for failing to keep the workplace free from hazards likely to cause death or serious harm.

The ADOSH’s inspection into TSMC also found workplace hazards, including the use of over-pressurization, exposure to harmful materials, and exposure to falling debris.

In Taiwan, the chipmaker’s newly built CoWoS (Chip-on-Wafer-on-Substrate) advanced packaging and testing plant in Chiayi Science Park has suffered four major industrial accidents in a two-month period, resulting in two deaths and two serious injuries, local media reported.

These include a 50-ton truck overturning, a worker becoming paralyzed after falling from a four-story building, a crane operator being crushed to death following the collapse of a transformer, and another employee dying after being hit by a falling ice water pipeline.

As a result, the Occupational Safety Administration of the Ministry of Labor has ordered the suspension of mechanical and electrical engineering work at the site.