Tuesday, September 28th 2021
India and Taiwan Working Towards $7.5 billion Chip Plant Deal
There's no secret that Taiwan has been looking at expanding its chip production to other nations, with TSMC having agreed to build a plant in Arizona, while also discussing the subject with the EU. Now it looks like a deal is being worked out with India to build further chip plants there, although it's not clear who the intended manufacturer will be, as TSMC isn't mentioned in the report by Bloomberg.
However, the piece mentions 5G devices and components for electric cars, which suggests that it might not be a cutting edge node we're looking at here, but rather something a bit more conservative like 28 or 14 nm. India would make sense in many ways, but the obvious concern once again is water supply, although so far no exact location has been mentioned for the placement of the fab.
Considering that more and more electronics are being manufactured in India, especially for the local market, this move makes a lot of sense, as it could save a lot of money for the foundry and its partners in the long term. On top of that, there are the current tensions between India and China, which has made Chinese products less popular with the local population. There are a few missing factors though, like chip testing and packaging facilities and obviously qualified staff.
India is currently importing some US$24 billion worth of semiconductors and this is estimated to more than quadruple by 2025. The upside for Taiwan is that this could both free up space in local fabs for new customers or additional production for existing customers, but also to make sure that it doesn't put all its eggs in one basket. With the recent water shortages in Taiwan, it also makes sense to spread out the production globally, even though TSMC has spent a lot of money and resources on improving its water conservation and recycling facilities. Time will tell what comes of the negotiations, but it seems like a mutually beneficial deal.
Sources:
Bloomberg, via Taiwan News
However, the piece mentions 5G devices and components for electric cars, which suggests that it might not be a cutting edge node we're looking at here, but rather something a bit more conservative like 28 or 14 nm. India would make sense in many ways, but the obvious concern once again is water supply, although so far no exact location has been mentioned for the placement of the fab.
India is currently importing some US$24 billion worth of semiconductors and this is estimated to more than quadruple by 2025. The upside for Taiwan is that this could both free up space in local fabs for new customers or additional production for existing customers, but also to make sure that it doesn't put all its eggs in one basket. With the recent water shortages in Taiwan, it also makes sense to spread out the production globally, even though TSMC has spent a lot of money and resources on improving its water conservation and recycling facilities. Time will tell what comes of the negotiations, but it seems like a mutually beneficial deal.
26 Comments on India and Taiwan Working Towards $7.5 billion Chip Plant Deal
But i guess more plants is better then nothing.
Here's a quick look, and this is live and ongoing, and it shows how corrupt and deep the rabbit hole really is. The background is that Tata Steel is having some global issues with Europe steel production front and center. You only need to look at the chronological order below...
this will have a potential to become one of Taiwan economic ally for years to come.
SnowSlow o_OOr what Tata is doing in NL? (Search results below my initial post)
As for ASML, mostly referring to the idea that we're doing 'our part' in global chip production, put those chip plants elsewhere thx :) We even have water shortages as it is, and data center growth is also a growing issue for much the same reasons. Yes. Water shortages in a country that's known for excesses of water.
They are surrounded by water ;)
Whomever, whatever country has water resources in the future will be the place to want to do business, every manufacturing process we do requires large amounts of water.
There is also the matter of population. IIRC, India has much, much more water resources than we do here (like trillions compared to billions!), yet once you normalize these values for population, they drop to something -by comparison- very close to each other. And boy do we have water scarcity here!It depends on how you look at it...
Not all industrial use is consumptive, and water requirements for industry aren't the same as the ones for agriculture of domestic use. Water reuse is possible, though admittedly, this is a tricky subject.
There is also the matter of budget reallocation. Some country could be exhausting all of its water in agriculture, but decide to switch from
being a banana republica primarily agriculture-based economy and nix some non-essential crops in favour of some industry and a few power plants. That is, of course, provided that the said country can afford to do so. One struggling to feed its population may not fit the criteria.This last part *may* be a reason to justify whether to invest in one country or not; a country that is self-sufficient in food and whose population aren't at each others' throats due to some issue related to water (in other words: a stable country) would be a much safer bet to invest in, though that would be more of a correlation (between water availability and feasibility of doing business) than a causation.
And it was predicted in gaming a looong time ago :D
India just like a loser and joker when it defianced China.
And Taiwan fends off China? It’s a part of China!
And the army is always the overwhelming power!