Big hurdles in US chip dreams

Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company’s complex in Phoenix. The transformation of Phoenix into a semiconductor hub by Taiwan’s TSMC illustrates the difficulties of large-scale projects in the United States. — Loren Elliott/The New York Times

THE computer chip factories rising from a blank stretch of the Sonoran Desert in Arizona almost defy scale.

The complex, spread over roughly 465ha – larger than New York’s Central Park – represents a staggering US$165bil investment, one of the costliest industrial ventures anywhere.