Friends who are concerned about the semiconductor industry know that since the US has extended an "olive branch" to TSMC, Zhang Zhongmou has shown a tough attitude - firmly opposed it.

Friends who follow the semiconductor industry know that since the US has issued an "olive branch" to TSMC, Zhang Zhongmou has shown a tough attitude - firmly opposed it. According to Zhang Zhongmou, the manufacturing cost of building a factory in the United States is at least 50% higher than in Taiwan, and there are various risks such as "stealing" technology, "poaching" talents, and "stealing" key data.

I thought Zhang Zhongmou was determined not to go to the United States to build a factory, but surprisingly, news came out recently that Zhang Zhongmou suddenly changed his face and not only wanted to go to the United States to build a 5nm wafer factory, but also "buy" one and add a 3nm wafer factory. This backward attitude has also aroused dissatisfaction among domestic netizens. For what reason, will Zhang Zhongmou change his attitude?

In my opinion, there are only three reasons why TSMC chose to build a factory in the United States. It is basically thinking about competitors, customers and supply chain , which led to the final decision. Although TSMC has been under pressure from multiple parties, this decision is not wise. Even foreign media lamented that TSMC is losing its "only" bargaining chip.

One of them comes from the pressure of competitors.

Although TSMC is a leading company in the chip foundry field, it is also facing great pressure in the 3nm process. TSMC's mass production of 3nm chips has been repeatedly delayed, while Samsung has achieved mass production of 3nm chips. At the same time, the yield rate of Samsung GAA process has also increased significantly, which also made TSMC a little panicked.

To a certain extent, building a factory in the United States is a sign of attitude, hoping to get support from the United States in all aspects. More importantly, getting support from American customers involves the second reason, customer pressure.

The second is from the pressure of customers.

As we all know, due to the "ban", TSMC could no longer continue to cooperate with Huawei , and Huawei was TSMC's second largest customer at that time. Although TSMC's production capacity will not be affected in the short term, Huawei's departure has affected the "profile" of TSMC's customers. According to public data, American companies occupy 8 seats among TSMC's top 10 customers, which makes TSMC very passive.

The higher the dependence on US customers, the less TSMC has to say. Not long ago, , Apple, and other US companies clearly rejected TSMC's price increase plan in 2023. It is obvious that TSMC has no basic pricing power, and it depends entirely on the face of US companies. When building a factory in the United States, TSMC compromised due to pressure from customers, hoping to be closer to customers and get good treatment after building a factory in the United States. But the author believes that TSMC may not have seen through the "businessman" nature of American companies.

Third, it comes from the pressure of the supply chain.

In fact, TSMC went to the United States to build a factory, which is similar to Apple's supply chain strategy. Cook once said that Apple cannot be dependent. Currently, Apple’s supply chain is spread all over the world. Even if there are supply chain problems, they can be solved in a timely manner. TSMC also hopes to broaden the supply chain of the European and American markets, thereby gaining more European and American customers, and to a certain extent, reduce supply chain risks.

But in fact, TSMC went to the United States to build a factory, which not only would not relieve these pressures, but would lose important bargaining chips. According to reports, TSMC will charter flights to transport about 1,000 core chip talents to the United States. The competition for technology is the competition for talents. Isn’t TSMC afraid to give up such important chips? What's more, TSMC's core technologies and core equipment are also going to "go to the United States", and the ending seems to have been written. What do you think about TSMC's construction in the United States? Welcome to comment and leave a message!