It looks increasingly likely that major Apple supplier Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. (TSMC) will proceed with a factory in Germany. Adding a third continent would make the world’s biggest chipmaker a truly global enterprise, Tim Culpan writes for Bloomberg News.
Tim Culpan for Bloomberg News:
A site near Dresden in Germany’s northeast is the leading contender as TSMC negotiates with clients, car manufacturers and governments over incentives and costs. A possible venture with NXP Semiconductors NV, Robert Bosch GmbH and Infineon Technologies AG includes state subsidies and would have a budget of at least €7 billion ($7.7 billion), though presumed to be closer to €11 billion, Bloomberg News reported last week. The Hsinchu-based company said it is still assessing the possibility of building on the continent.
Should the deal go ahead, TSMC could find itself committing more than $50 billion on new factories outside Taiwan, which is currently home to more than 95% of its capacity. Such a risk requires it to find just the right business model in each locale, one that caters to local needs without losing sight of its vision to remain the global leader in chip technology and manufacturing. That Europe is so different from the US is what may end up rationalizing this latest move.
A key purpose of the Arizona project is to help the US catch up on leading-edge semiconductor technology after having once been the global leader. Yet in Europe, the goal is to ensure continued supply of crucial components to the auto industry, an economically and politically important sector for many countries in the region…
Europe is different, and TSMC’s strategy there makes more sense. Even though the Taiwanese company introduced its 28-nanometer process 12 years ago, it is expected to be at the heart of the chipmaker’s European strategy. There’s two reasons for this: most automotive chips still use that node, and TSMC has pivoted this technology to more niche applications instead of processors. As industry observer Paul McLellan once wrote: “Old TSMC fabs don’t die, they become specialty technology fabs.”
MacDailyNews Take: Much more in the full article – recommended – here.
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