TSMC Arizona chips being flown back to TSMC in Taiwan for advanced packaging

TSMC's new Arizona chip-making facility might be making next-gen chips on US soil, but those chips are being sent back to its facilities in Taiwan for advanced packaging.

In a new report from the Taiwan Economic Daily, we're hearing that TSMC US is flying out fully-prepared wafers to Taiwan in order to get advanced packaging services and then to make those chips fully usable and ready for AI server manufacturers.

The outlet reports that TSMC Arizona doesn't have the packaging services that companies like NVIDIA require, and that flying the chips back home to Taiwan is the only option available, as it's faster and more convenient than setting up advanced packaging facilities in the United States.

In a new post on X by insider @DanNystedt, TSMC Arizona's shipments of chips from the USA back to Taiwan for testing and packaging provides a new air cargo opportunity, too, says the president of Eva Airways. This will add costs as prices for AI server shipments to the US are up this year over last year, with Eva noticing a rush of orders in June, including charter flights as server cargo demand surged.

Things should change in the future as TSMC sets up more and more semiconductor facilities in the United States, but due to the insatiable AI demand right now, it's easier to fly these chips to Taiwan for packaging it seems.