The United States’ self-built chip industry chain
Most American chip companies will ask TSMC to manufacture, especially Apple . All A series and M series chips are produced by TSMC. Even chip manufacturing giants like Intel are inseparable from TSMC's chip foundry technology.
Intel CEO Kissinger once visited TSMC's headquarters, hoping to obtain more capacity support. In addition to the large orders of Nvidia, AMD and other companies, more than 60% of TSMC's revenue comes from the US market.
So American companies have obvious reliance on TSMC. If they do not seek TSMC foundry, they will not be able to obtain the world's most advanced chip manufacturing technology. Although , Samsung also has benchmarking technology and is the only one that can keep up with TSMC's development pace, there is a lot of room for improvement in yield and capacity issues.
At this stage, US companies can only hand over important orders to TSMC. Even if TSMC has the idea of raising prices, US companies can only accept it after thinking about it.
US companies can still accept it, but it is hard to say about people in the United States. It can be seen from some actions in the United States that it is building its own chip industry chain, building the ability to localize chips and self-sufficiency, and forming a complete closed loop of chip manufacturing.
Invitation of TSMC to build a factory in the United States is only the first step, and it will also guide more chip giants to build factories in the United States. For example, Intel and Micron have set a goal of building a factory of 100 billion yuan.
However, TSMC founder Zhang Zhongmou is not optimistic about the US's independent chip manufacturing practice, which will only increase the cost of chip manufacturing, which is a futile move. Moreover, what the United States wants is not only TSMC's factory facilities, but even , the US think tank suggests introducing talents from TSMC.
The United States seems to be cooperating with TSMC, but in fact it is to reduce its dependence on TSMC. Once the US chip industry chain is built, American companies will no longer need to find a single manufacturer to manufacture chips in the future, and Intel may also replace TSMC to build chips for American companies.
TSMC's backup plan
The United States' cooperation while getting rid of dependence has added many variables to TSMC. So what backup plan has TSMC prepared? In response, some US media said that TSMC has made plans for the "worst" situation.
First, TSMC expands its production capacity in Taiwan Province and builds more high-end chip factories.
TSMC is headquartered in Taiwan Province. In the past, many chip factories were planned in the headquarters area. TSMC plans to expand production capacity in Taiwan Province and build high-end chip factories such as 3nm and 2nm locally.
Among them, TSMC will mass-produce 3nm in the second half of this year, and the factory production line is ready. The construction of the 2nm factory is still in the stage of obtaining land approval and is expected to achieve mass production in 2025.
Secondly, TSMC insists on chip globalization, builds factories in Japan, and inspects in India and Germany.
The United States wants to move all the factory resources of the chip industry chain to the United States, and even use subsidies to restrict TSMC's investment scale, requiring that after receiving the subsidies, it cannot invest in the construction of factory facilities 28nm or below in specific regions, with a term of ten years.
TSMC's approach is to insist on global chips. It has built a 28nm/22nm chip factory in Japan. And judging from the news from Japan, the factory construction is very fast. In addition, TSMC has also visited India and Germany to evaluate the possibility of subsequent factory construction.
TSMC's back-up preparation can increase its ability to deal with variables. The United States has always wanted to revitalize the chip manufacturing industry and get rid of its dependence on Asian chip giants. Although TSMC is a partner, as long as the United States grasps the alternative conditions, TSMC will not be like this in the US market now.
So, TSMC, which is planning the worst, will place factory construction in other regions to avoid the tilting of industrial chain resources towards the United States.
The United States strongly supports Intel, how can TSMC deal with competition?
Most of the actions carried out by the United States are for Intel to rise smoothly. Intel is currently building a chip factory in , Ohio, and also has chip foundry services.
With the support of the United States, Intel may grow into a chip foundry giant, and like TSMC and Samsung take over orders from major customers. Intel is the key to the United States getting rid of dependence. The question is how TSMC deals with competition?
In fact, TSMC can stabilize customer order cooperation. Generally speaking, customers will sign cooperation agreements to find TSMC OEM, set production capacity and deadlines, etc.
With TSMC's technical advantages, most chip design manufacturers around the world have consulted TSMC for cooperation, both in terms of quantity and quality. If TSMC can stabilize customer order cooperation, it can continue to grasp the industrial advantages.
In addition, the control of core technologies must also be taken. Intel is expected to win the first launch of NA EUV lithography machines, mass-produce high-end advanced processors, and win the favor of customers. TSMC can only start from a technical perspective and consolidate its core technology system.
written at the end
The United States has ideas beyond cooperation with TSMC, so once the United States masters other chip foundry options, you can imagine what situations TSMC will encounter. In addition to ensuring core technology, TSMC should also pay attention to talent strength. Everything depends on TSMC itself.
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