Japanese sources said that TSMC again began to consider the construction of a plant in the United States for the production of semiconductors. It may turn out that this is a natural reaction to the election rhetoric and the pressure of Donald Trump. The elections will take place, and everyone will forget about everything again. But this possibility cannot be completely excluded. In the United States, they are afraid of TSMC military leaks to China, and the new factory can get an American residence permit.
As the TSMC is recognized, the company never forgets about the possibility of building a new semiconductor factory in the United States. Taiwanese contractor built the last one in the United States more than 20 years ago – in 1998. Since then, technical processes and technologies for the production of chips have gone so far ahead that it has probably matured the need to build a more perfect enterprise. But how to solve the main issue? In the USA, it will be much more expensive to produce microcircuits than in Taiwan. Who will pay for all this?
The last factory in Taiwan, which TSMC will soon put into operation and where it will produce 5-nm chips, cost the company in the amount of about $ 24 billion. In addition, the company will require enormous consumption of electricity and water resources. In the United States, all these expenses will multiply. In addition, as an anonymous source reports, the United States is unlikely to be satisfied with the most advanced technical process with 5-nm production standards and want something more advanced: 3- or 2-nm technology process. For the future that it is absolutely correct. Thus, the costs of the hypothetical plant will increase even more.
Another source prompted Nikkei that the most likely place for the construction of the new TSMC plant in the United States will be the western coast of the country. The main customers of TSMC are concentrated there and there you can find qualified engineers to work at the company’s factory.
For the United States, TSMC production plants in Taiwan are fraught with two threats. Firstly, Americans are afraid of leaks of their developments in China. For example, 16-nm PLIS Xilinx company for the latest F-35 fighters are produced in Taiwan. Secondly, the United States does not want to put up with TSMC Chinese clients who get access to the same perfect production as they themselves. In this case, the situation with Huawei is a widely known example. Donald Trump since November last year calls on Taiwan to stop cooperating with this company.
TSMC company cannot be so easy to brush off these calls. From cooperation with companies from the United States, it receives about 60 % of the revenue, while China forms about 20 % of its budget. A positive solution to the issue with a factory in the United States could resolve a conflict of interests. It just would not have happened, as with the LCD factory of Foxconn in Wisconsin. There was a lot of noise and movement, but there was no result.
Source:
- Nikkei