Texas Instruments Plans Sherman Fab For 2022

Texas Instruments announced this week plans for a new fab at its Sherman Texas facility to process 300nm wafers. Groundbreaking should begin in 2022, shortly before the firm begins production at its current-construction RFAB2 near Richardson. As TI specializes in industrial and automotive ICs, the ramped up production from these facilities is expected to reduce the type of shortages automakers faced as one of the first victims of USA’s current supply crisis.

This could also affect the PC industry as foreign fabs dedicate more of their capacity to PC-related components: We’ve already seen this happen when automakers worldwide reduced orders during COVID-19 production shutdowns, as IC producers being ill-prepared to switch back to automotive IC production was the thing that put automotive manufacturers at the front of the current supply crisis.

Though the new Sherman facility won’t be completed until 2025, news regarding its 2022 construction start appears to be timed to remind us of the near-term completion of the firm’s RAFB2 (2022) and impending conversion of LFAB (Lehi, Utah) in 2023. Unlike certain competitors, Texas Instruments unfortunately hasn’t announced production capacity for any of these upcoming fabs, nor has it discussed any government incentives that might be involved.