TSMC Starts Next-Gen Mass Production as World Fights Over Chips

Firm mass produces 3 nm chips, to adopt 2nm in Taiwan plants.Concern grows over global reliance on Taiwan for high-end tech

Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. kicked off mass production of next-generation chips Thursday, ensuring the island remains the linchpin of a critical technology fought over by governments from Washington to Beijing.

The primary chipmaker for Apple Inc. began bulk production of advanced 3-nanometer chips at its Tainan campus in southern Taiwan. In doing so, TSMC follows Samsung Electronics Co. in gearing up on production of a technology that’s expected to control the next lineup of cutting-edge devices from iPhones to internet servers to supercomputers. $Taiwan Semiconductor (TSM.US)$ $Direxion Daily Semiconductor Bull 3x Shares ETF (SOXL.US)$ $PHLX Semiconductor Index (.SOX.US)$