Wednesday, May 13th 2020
TSMC Says it Still Won't Build a Fab in the US
TSMC, as one of the largest silicon manufacturers in the world, has been subject to pressure from the Trump administration to build a Fab and manufacture silicon on US soil. The reasoning behind this is that the US government could order chips that are supposed to be used in military applications. For security reasons, they need to be manufactured on US grounds and "checked" by the US government. However, it seems like a Taiwanese company has no concrete plans to realize the building of the US Fab.
Thanks to the report of DigiTimes, TSMC has confirmed that they have resisted requests from the US government, and will not build a Fab on US soil for the government. They haven't dismissed the possibility of building one or silicon manufacturing facilities in the US completely. TSMC chairman Mark Liu has told DigiTimes previously that if the company wants to build a US Fab, it will do so because of consumer demand, not the government demand. And that is understandable. It is much easier to work with regular customers compared to the US government which would force a company to go through rigorous security levels to deliver chips.
Source:
DigiTimes
Thanks to the report of DigiTimes, TSMC has confirmed that they have resisted requests from the US government, and will not build a Fab on US soil for the government. They haven't dismissed the possibility of building one or silicon manufacturing facilities in the US completely. TSMC chairman Mark Liu has told DigiTimes previously that if the company wants to build a US Fab, it will do so because of consumer demand, not the government demand. And that is understandable. It is much easier to work with regular customers compared to the US government which would force a company to go through rigorous security levels to deliver chips.
45 Comments on TSMC Says it Still Won't Build a Fab in the US
And this isn't really to do with Trump (whatever you think of him) so leave the politics out of it.
if US has local manufacture capacity by TSMC they don't have the same interest of protecting Taiwan from China.
I didn't realise the average US wage is $56k (though the median income is $32k).
UK average is £30k ($36k). - so SK pays more (on average) than UK wage.
Point being - they pay higher than minimum wage.
Everyone knows that Chinese quality is not that good and it's because they cannot compare with the Japanese or Germans, for example.
This is why I said political decision, I must ask the US presidents, not Apple.
Apple and TSMC = Love. Nothing new here. They order tons of chips and pays well.
AMD, Nvidia and others will always be 2nd in line.
Most of what I've seen pegs it around TSMC 7nm at best (optimistic)... and they still can't make enough to feed Intel, let alone others.
If the government "demands" something, you don't have the option to say no. And guess what: the U.S. federal government can't "demand" a foreign company build a fab in the U.S.
Criticial thinking is sadly on the decline these days.