Preface: How can TSMC be able to stand firm?
The development of smartphones in recent years can be said to be beyond everyone's expectations. The updates and iterations are very strong every year, but the most core chips are still in the hands of foreign companies.
. Currently, only Huawei has the ability to develop chips, but it still needs to be handed over to TSMC for foundry production. This is because TSMC currently masters the world's most advanced 4nm support process technology.
In today's technology circle, chip shortage has become a problem that many manufacturers need to face. There are two very well-known semiconductor companies in Asia, namely , Samsung and TSMC.
has always been competing with each other and keeping a wary eye on each other, and the competition in the nano field is very fierce.
Since 2005, this Taiwanese company has maintained its leading operating profits. At that time, there were 15 companies in the field of chip foundry. After years of development, only TSMC is still standing.
So there are three main reasons why TSMC can stand out among the many chip foundry manufacturers:
First: Excellent leader
As the saying goes, having an outstanding leader is a great help for a company. It can better carry out macro-control and better grasp the big aspects. TSMC founder Zhang Zhongmou has set a big picture and determination to challenge the world at the founding place.
Second: TSMC employees continue to seek innovation and change
As the saying goes, when you are poor, change will be done. The development of a company requires continuous and continuous innovation and technological breakthroughs. Only in this way can you continue to lead in technology, and only in this way can you lead in talent.
Third: The industrial environment created by the government for TSMC
If enterprises want to develop and the industry want to grow, this is inseparable from supporting equipment and corresponding policies, so as to attract many top talents at home and abroad and huge capital gatherings. This is also an important prerequisite for forming an industry.
Overall, these three items are indispensable reasons for TSMC's success and the key to making TSMC stand out among many factories.
However, many people say that TSMC's success is mainly due to the help of the government and a large amount of funds. If you have a deep understanding, you will know that this is only an important help in the early stages of TSMC, and in the later stages, TSMC's own development and efforts are still needed.
Whether it is the success of a person or a company, I personally believe that the right time, place, people and people are indispensable. The determination and pattern of the main leaders of the company are the key factors that determine whether the company can develop and move forward in the long run.
The success of TSMC, after Huawei was sanctioned by the United States, slowly moved from behind to front of the Taiwan Strait. Have you ever noticed that TSMC's figure has frequently appeared in the public's vision in recent years?
Any information related to chips is more or less related to TSMC. Even the United States, which is so powerful in technology, has ended up several times in person. I hope TSMC can go to the United States to build a factory as soon as possible.
In fact, everyone can understand that although the United States has a strong design in the chip field, accounting for 70% of the world's share, the United States has plummeted in chip manufacturing level in recent years, from 37% in 1990 to 12% in 2020. It can be said that it has almost fallen to the bottom in one breath.
So let’s take a look at the OEM revenue of a TSMC company, which accounted for 53% of the global market in the first quarter of 2022. This can really be said to be the leader in the wafer navigation industry.
So in other words, if the US did not have TSMC to produce chips for it, the US chip industry may be greatly affected, such as the well-known Apple , AMD , etc.
So in the field of chips, TSMC is indeed the king. It can cut off Huawei's supply and can also affect the United States.
So the question is, why can TSMC be so awesome in the chip manufacturing industry? What has TSMC experienced in the past few decades?
The big guy then reads down. Before answering this question, we need to know why the chip industry can take root in Taiwan?
At this time, we need to dial back 40 years, but Japan is the leader in the semiconductor industry. It once became the first in the semiconductor industry, but in a critical "battle", Japan became familiar. Companies like , Intel , AMD, which we are familiar with now were defeated by Japan at that time and were beaten to abandon their armor.
Even Intel, which was once very powerful, was forced to lay off employees. In the end, it had no choice but to transform. You can imagine how powerful the days were at that time. Even the Americans were very panicked. If this continues, will my own company still have a way out? So I "raid my brains" to come up with an idea, because Japan's semiconductor industry is too developed, which may affect the national security of the United States.
It seems that the American habit has history to be found. Anyone who is strong will be afraid of whom. Does this reason sound very familiar? This is actually the current sanctions against Huawei.
At that time, the United States could say that it was, and immediately passed legislation to determine that Japan's semiconductor industry was dumping. In this way, American companies took the opportunity to divide it up. If this operation was done, it would be even more difficult for Japan's semiconductor industry to take off again, and even the potential for development was gone.
At this time, the problem arose again. The little days were hammered, but the chip still needed it. Whoever made the chip became a problem that must be solved at that time.
In that era, the development of the chip industry was far from as powerful as it is now. In addition to using advanced equipment, it also required a large amount of labor. At that time, the labor force in the United States was too expensive, and if it was produced by itself, it would not be cost-effective at all.
So for the United States, what he needs is mature, stable, and high-precision chips. After the crackdown, the United States has re-divided the chip industry and mastered the chip design with the highest value. This is why the chips with the most advanced processes are designed by the United States.
, and the remaining relatively low-end production aspects are handed over to Japan, South Korea and other countries and Taiwan. If they are dispersed in this way, even if a younger brother can break through, it will not have an impact on himself, because the United States does not want to see another person who can have a full industrial chain like Japan before, which will affect his own interests.
It is under this background that TSMC has been able to develop slowly. Through continuous efforts, TSMC has finally taken the most important device for manufacturing chips - lithography machine in its own hands.
During the financial crisis in 2008, TSMC was affected and had a brief low period, so veteran Zhang Zhongmou came out again. Even at the age of 78, he still had a sharp vision and chose chips with bright prospects in the mobile phone market, and began to concentrate on developing a 28nm process process.
Finally, for the chip industry, it is a highly technically intensive industry. TSMC can judge the situation and develop new processes and enter the chip field. These measures have made TSMC far behind its peers and become the overlord of chip foundry production.
