Intel and TSMC in Foundry Joint Venture Talks

[btarunr]

Intel and TSMC are reportedly locked in talks to form a semiconductor foundry joint-venture (JV). This sensational piece of news comes from Reuters, which says that the two companies have reached a preliminary agreement to form the JV. Apparently, the move saves TSMC from building any hard infrastructure on U.S. soil, and instead use Intel's semiconductor foundry facilities. This would hence bring TSMC's semiconductor manufacturing IP and workforce to the U.S., however it remains to be seen if the very latest foundry technology would be handed over to the JV. TSMC would hold a 20% stake in the venture, and Intel the rest. Investors of Intel and TSMC reacted very differently to the news, with the TSMC stock falling 6% and Intel gaining 5%. Reuters also reports that it was the Trump Administration that negotiated this joint-venture between TSMC and Intel in a bid to "revitalize Intel."



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[kondamin]

That isn't a smart thing to do from a national security perspective.

 

[mb194dc]

This isn't new news, the same news came out about a month ago... There's nothing in it for tsmc, why help a competitor?

 

[john_]

This isn't new news, the same news came out about a month ago...

Coming to an agreement, IS new news.

There's nothing in it for tsmc, why help a competitor?

Avoid tariffs, save Taiwan from China.

 

[TechBuyingHavoc]

Coming to an agreement, IS new news.

Avoid tariffs, save Taiwan from China.

You can’t trust the Mad King not to put tariffs on you anyway, regardless of your actions.

He might wake up on the wrong side of the bed and WHAM, tariffs are doubled on your products.

There is no negotiation you can do with an unstable person. Not is there any credible deterrence with such a person, his word is worth less than s***.

Edit: While tariffs are the technical term, let’s call it what it is.

Import Taxes. Paid for by Americans.

 

[Guwapo77]

That isn't a smart thing to do from a national security perspective.

For whom, Taiwan? TSMC is way beyond Intel at this point.

 

[TheinsanegamerN]

You can’t trust the Mad King not to put tariffs on you anyway, regardless of your actions.

He might wake up on the wrong side of the bed and WHAM, tariffs are doubled on your products.

There is no negotiation you can do with an unstable person. Not is there any credible deterrence with such a person, his word is worth less than s***.

Edit: While tariffs are the technical term, let’s call it what it is.

Import Taxes. Paid for by Americans.

Import taxes are not the same thing as tariffs.

There's no reason you cannot make a legal trade agreement today. What you CAN'T do now, is simply import everything for dirt cheap exploiting foreign labor and not pay for any of it. For now at least, the era of freely exploiting other countries is coming to a close.

 

[bonehead123]

Well, IMO, the ONLY thing being saved here is: Intel

Mr. Tan saw the writing on the wall a while back, and made it his #1 priority as soon as he got rid of Patty boi

 

[TheinsanegamerN]

For whom, Taiwan? TSMC is way beyond Intel at this point.

For the US, if China were to sneak people into TSMC they would then have direct access to Intel's facilities with such an agreement. How great of a risk this is I dont know.

For Taiwan it's a great idea, the more intertwined they are in US production the more they can pressure the US for military support to keep China at bay. So long as they dont move too much out of taiwan that is. There's also the risk of Intel poaching some secrets and catching up to TSMC, significantly reducing Taiwan's importance, but I have my doubts on intel being able to pull that off.

 

[kondamin]

For whom, Taiwan? TSMC is way beyond Intel at this point.

I kinda doubt tsmc is actually all that beyond intel

 

[N3utro]

Knowing trump he probably strong armed taiwan officials to do it in exchange from protection from china.

Same thing he did with ukraine and mineral rights.

I'm not sure this is morally right but you can't deny he gets important deals done for the US

 

[Guwapo77]

I kinda doubt tsmc is actually all that beyond intel

Foundrywise? OK.

For the US, if China were to sneak people into TSMC they would then have direct access to Intel's facilities with such an agreement. How great of a risk this is I dont know.

For Taiwan it's a great idea, the more intertwined they are in US production the more they can pressure the US for military support to keep China at bay. So long as they dont move too much out of taiwan that is. There's also the risk of Intel poaching some secrets and catching up to TSMC, significantly reducing Taiwan's importance, but I have my doubts on intel being able to pull that off.

TSMC is the most advance foundry in the world... TSMC would be the only losers here. You're right, Intel couldn't pull it off because their desire is soley share prices, TSMC is a culture/movement/pride. Intel's board only cares about how much money it can make, not innovation. That's a big problem with all American companies...

 

[usiname]

Taiwan don't need to be saved from Chine, it need to be saved from the greater evil - US

 

[kondamin]

Foundrywise? OK.

as a foundry for third parties sure, technology wise though…

 

[TechBuyingHavoc]

Import taxes are not the same thing as tariffs.

There's no reason you cannot make a legal trade agreement today. What you CAN'T do now, is simply import everything for dirt cheap exploiting foreign labor and not pay for any of it. For now at least, the era of freely exploiting other countries is coming to a close.

According to who? If it was Congress determining tariff policy, you could say that the nation agrees on what to do. This is just one angry crazy orange man using war emergency powers. Who knows what state his brain is in.

 

[user556]

What would make sense to me is TSMC bring to the table not their technical know-how of fabricating, but rather the business operations around providing comprehensive foundry services for thousands of customers and tens of thousands of products at once. That's traditionally been an afterthought for Intel. Since the advent of the PC, they've never really had to compete with anyone up till now.