TSMC is undoubtedly the only one in the global chip foundry market. It not only has the most advanced manufacturing technology and the highest advanced process yield, but also holds a market share of up to 55%.
Today, as semiconductor chip is becoming more and more important, TSMC has enjoyed the treatment of "shocks of stars". Many regions have extended "olive branches" to it, hoping that TSMC can invest and build factories in their local areas to promote the development of the local semiconductor chip industry.
But the result is obvious to all. TSMC has chosen one of the most unsuitable regions for the development of the OEM industry, that is, the United States, where artificial materials are very expensive. In addition, after the US revised the rules, TSMC followed closely, not only ending its foundry service for Huawei , but also cutting orders of more than 30 billion yuan in mainland chip orders. It has become a "hawk" for the US to sanction high-tech Chinese companies.
Against the backdrop of global chip shortage in 2021, TSMC, with full production capacity, ushered in its highlight moment, with its market value once reaching US$750 billion, ranking first in Asian companies! TSMC, which tasted the sweetness, thought it was self-righteously embraced the American "thigh", but what he never expected was that after entering 2022, it quickly embarked on the "downhill".
Everyone knows that TSMC's main source of revenue is advanced technology. However, in recent months, US chip giants such as Qualcomm , AMD , and Nvidia have cut orders from TSMC on a large scale. Even Intel and Apple have delayed the use of TSMC 3nm process.
What's worse is that without the checks and balances of Huawei's orders, TSMC's bargaining power was also "threatened". When it announced its plan to raise prices in 2023, it was rejected by many American chip giants such as Apple and Nvidia. This phenomenon has never happened in the past.
Faced with the sharp decline in utilization rate of advanced processes, TSMC can be said to have suffered heavy losses, and for this reason it was forced to shut down some EUV lithography machines to save costs.
I believe many netizens are familiar with EUV lithography machines that can be produced by only ASML in the world. It is the core production equipment for advanced process chips below 7nm, with a price of up to US$120 million. Due to restrictions from the United States, the domestic chip market has always been expected to be unreliable for this equipment.
But TSMC has more than 80 units in hand, far exceeding any other competitor, and this is also the key to its ability to become the "No. 1 OEM". When the order for
chips is sufficient, the more EUV lithography machines, the more efficient the production capacity and the greater the profit it brings. However, the advantage in the number of EUV devices has now become a burden to TSMC due to the expensive operating cost .
In addition, TSMC has also lowered its annual expenditure in 2022 twice, with a total of more than US$8 billion. Even the plan to build a 7nm factory in Kaohsiung was cancelled.
. Recently, TSMC Wei Zhejia personally issued an internal letter to "encourage employees to take leave" informing employees to spend more time with their families.
You should know that TSMC has always been short of manpower in the past. In order to attract talents, it has spent a lot of money and even lowered the recruitment qualification requirements. Anyone without relevant work experience can join the company.
But now I suddenly call on employees not to go to work. What does this mean, combined with the signs of TSMC's 3nm process delay, 7nm order cuts, lithography machine closure, and new factory suspension. It's self-evident.
It is precisely because of this that some foreign media said: TSMC has begun to "can't stand it anymore". In the view of many industry insiders, if TSMC wants to "sweep the haze", the best choice is not to rely too much on US technology, and at the same time increase cooperation with mainland companies.
On the one hand, it has the world's largest chip consumer market, which is enough to fill TSMC's production capacity. The more important reason is that Taiwan Province is an inalienable part of China's territorial integrity, and TSMC's return is justified!
What do you think about this?
