TSMC officially announced the establishment of a 5nm wafer factory in the United States. Previously, various speculations and inferences from the outside world finally came to a certain extent. Some people believe that TSMC complies with the United States in order to successfully supply Huawei, while others believe that TSMC only provides election materials for Trump . What exactly means is probably only time can give the answer.
In order to move manufacturing back to the United States, Trump had previously recruited a Hon Hai panel factory in Wisconsin, but because both sides had their own ulterior motives and the project was incompatible with the US industrial structure, he was currently struggling. TSMC is booming in the field of wafer foundry, and most of its major customers are from the United States, so Trump will naturally be salivating.
In fact, the United States and TSMC have been "flirting" in advanced wafer foundries for many years. However, does not have a hit-and-out love, and may eventually fulfill the "strong melon is not sweet".
frontal
1949, 18-year-old Zhang Zhongmou went to Boston, USA alone to study business at Harvard University. The following year, in order to find employment after graduation, Zhang Zhongmou transferred to MIT and obtained a bachelor's and master's degree in the Department of Mechanical Engineering. After graduation, because the monthly salary offered by the semiconductor department of Civania for Zhang Zhongmou was 1 US dollars higher than that of Ford Motor, Zhang Zhongmou chose to join the former and enter the semiconductor industry.
In 1958, Zhang Zhongmou jumped to the Texas Instruments business unit, and in 1972 he was promoted to the group's vice president and general manager of the semiconductor group. He was the vice president of the company's global semiconductor business and became the Chinese with the highest position in the business world at that time.
In 1983, because he was not optimistic about the company's strategic transformation, Zhang Zhongmou left Texas Instruments, and then worked as the president of General Instruments for one year and six months of venture capital. At this time, Zhang Zhongmou thought that his lifelong ambition was not this, so he decided to leave the United States and returned to Taiwan in 1985 and was invited to serve as the director of the Institute of Industrial Technology. In 1987, 56-year-old Zhang Zhongmou officially founded TSMC.
The 36-year-old American career has allowed Zhang Zhongmou to gain semiconductor knowledge, business thinking and industrial connections. Only by visiting the industrial highland can Zhang Zhongmou discover the lack of division of labor in the industry and predict that the separation of IC design and manufacturing is the general trend. Therefore, the birth of the wafer foundry giant TSMC is inseparable from Zhang Zhongmou's career in the United States. TSMC's first pot of gold was also a personal relationship between Zhang Zhongmou and Andrew Grove, co-founder of Intel .
The "front relationship" between TSMC and the United States also gave birth to a wafer foundry factory in the United States.
The first factory in the United States,
After TSMC was established, its main plans for its wafer fabs were in Taiwan, China. But since most semiconductor giants were in the United States at that time, in order to serve customers and attract potential customers, in 1996, TSMC and ADI, Altera and ISSI established a joint venture called WaferTech in Washington State, USA, and built a US$1.2 billion 8-inch wafer factory. At that time, TSMC owned about 57.23% of WaferTech's equity (including 15% of technology shares), ADI and Altera each accounted for 18%, ISSI accounted for 4%, and other investors held the remaining approximately 2.77% of the equity.
It is understood that WaferTech was supposed to build Santa Clara in , California , at that time, but , because Americans regarded wafer fabs as a high-pollution industry, local residents opposed it. In the end, the California government rejected Zhang Zhongmou on the grounds that it was "not in line with the benefits of land use." After the establishment of
, as the first foundry in the United States, WaferTech's initial process was mainly 0.35 micron process. At that time, customers included Nvidia, Altera, etc., with a full monthly production capacity of 30,000 pieces. At present, the fab's most advanced process is still at 160nm.
In December 2000, in order to improve wafer foundry capabilities and services in North America, as well as a more flexible real-time future strategy and capacity expansion plan, TSMC announced that it would acquire all shares of WaferTech at a price of US$6 per share. After spending US$500 million, TSMC's shareholding ratio has reached nearly 100%.
In 2003, there were rumors that WaferTech was considering building a 12-inch wafer fab locally, but a WaferTech spokesperson later denied the rumor, saying that the company had no intention of amplifying the wafer fab. It is worth mentioning that at that time, some market analysts pointed out that TSMC's profit prospects for operating wafer factories in Asia are much higher than those in the United States, and some analysts even predicted that TSMC would shut down WaferTech due to cost considerations. However, Washington, the United States passed a semiconductor industry tax cut bill that year, and WaferTech has been "surviving" in a low-key manner.
unwillingness and reluctance
In 2011, TSMC officially mass-produced the 28nm process, while WaferTech's process is still standing still. The following year, TSMC publicly stated that it would use its "strength to feed" to increase the production capacity of 28nm. Later, the market reported that TSMC was going to build a factory in the United States.
WaferTech has been established for 16 years. Why is there another news that TSMC has gone to the United States to build a factory? You should know that at this time, GF's factory in , New York, has begun to take shape, and Apple's products are in a period of rapid growth. It is generally believed that building a factory in the United States will help TSMC seize Apple and other customers from Samsung.
However, Zhang Zhongmou said at the supply chain management forum held by TSMC in December 2012: "The United States is indeed one of the candidates to consider (building a new wafer fab), but this has nothing to do with Apple." It is inconsistent with the outside world's speculation that it has snatched Apple's orders, but this is the first time that TSMC has publicly expressed its willingness to build a factory in the United States, but it is just willing.
After that, the construction of a factory in the United States seemed to be forgotten by both parties. Until 2017, after Trump proposed a new "Made in the United States" policy, Zhang Zhongmou stated: "TSMC's manufacturing focus is on Taiwan, and no customers require TSMC to set up factories in the United States. However, if US policy guides it, making manufacturing in the United States more beneficial than Taiwan, TSMC will not rule out setting up factories in the United States."
Zhang Zhongmou also said that Trump asked TSMC to build factories in the United States to increase the manufacturing and employment rate of the United States, but TSMC is already the world's largest wafer foundry and has assisted countless American IC design companies and IDMs in producing wafers. These companies can focus more on pursuing innovative products and producing more valuable products. In addition to creating profits for these companies, TSMC has created many local jobs indirectly.
I have to say that Zhang Zhongmou's words reveal "reluctance" between the lines, while the United States is still "unwilling".
In 2019, the United States once again proposed that it would like TSMC to build a factory in the United States. Liu Deyin, co-CEO of TSMC, said that he had discussed with the US Department of Commerce about building a factory in the United States, but funding is a major obstacle because the operating costs of the United States are high, and building a wafer factory requires large subsidies. Whether a factory can be built depends on when the cost gap can be narrowed.
Liu Deyin also said that TSMC is considering the pros and cons of building a factory in the United States, but it is too early to make the final decision. Even if the problem of financial subsidies is solved, the scale of wafer fabs built in the United States will not exceed that of Taiwan. TSMC has not been directly under pressure from the US Department of Defense, but TSMC's US customers have indeed received "care" from the US Department of Defense, hoping that some products can be produced in the United States.
In March this year, TSMC made it clear that setting up factories in the United States is still under evaluation and there is no new progress. In early May, it was reported that the United States was discussing the establishment of a chip foundry with Intel and TSMC in the United States. TSMC subsequently stated that there is no specific plan in the evaluation stage. However, on May 15, TSMC suddenly announced in an announcement that it will build and operate an advanced wafer factory in Arizona, USA, and will use 5nm process technology, invest about US$12 billion, with a planned monthly production capacity of 20,000 pieces. Construction is expected to start in 2021 and mass production in 2024.
At this point, the United States' "unwillingness" finally made TSMC let go of its "reluctance". However, the factory is currently only planning, and it is still unknown whether it will be implemented in the end and to what extent it will be implemented.
(Proofreading/Jurnan)
