Geopolitics and IC Production...

[Rick C]

Maybe I\'m reading too much into this, or maybe this is nothing new, just the first time I\'ve heard of it. TSMC was planning a new 7 billion dollar factory. Now they are adding 1.6 billion dollars to expand capacity from 45,000 12 inch wafers to 55,000 wafers per month.

What surprised me is they are building it in Japan. I\'m wondering if this has anything to do with the Chinese being more aggressive about Taiwan being a part of the PRC.

Since so much of the demand for chips are by the car companies, and the auto part company Denso Corp has a 10% stake in the new facility, maybe they are demanding the plant be in Japan where they make the cars, again to be independent of what happens in Taiwan.

--

Rick C.

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[David Brown]

On 21/02/2022 11:37, Rick C wrote:

Maybe I\'m reading too much into this, or maybe this is nothing new,
just the first time I\'ve heard of it. TSMC was planning a new 7
billion dollar factory. Now they are adding 1.6 billion dollars to
expand capacity from 45,000 12 inch wafers to 55,000 wafers per
month.

What surprised me is they are building it in Japan. I\'m wondering if
this has anything to do with the Chinese being more aggressive about
Taiwan being a part of the PRC.

Since so much of the demand for chips are by the car companies, and
the auto part company Denso Corp has a 10% stake in the new facility,
maybe they are demanding the plant be in Japan where they make the
cars, again to be independent of what happens in Taiwan.

It\'s also possible that it makes the logistics easier - if the main
customers of the plant are in Japan, and they get at least some of their
raw materials there, then it makes sense to build it there. Maybe there
are tax reasons too.

TMSC may also feel that having everything in Taiwan is a vulnerability
independent of PRC - a major plant in another country reduces the risk
from earthquakes, storms, plagues, and the like. But then it might have
made more sense to go for the USA or somewhere in Europe.

You are probably right to suspect PRC / Taiwan politics to have been at
least part of the reasoning, but it might not be the only reason.

 

[Dimiter_Popoff]

On 2/21/2022 14:34, David Brown wrote:

On 21/02/2022 11:37, Rick C wrote:
Maybe I\'m reading too much into this, or maybe this is nothing new,
just the first time I\'ve heard of it. TSMC was planning a new 7
billion dollar factory. Now they are adding 1.6 billion dollars to
expand capacity from 45,000 12 inch wafers to 55,000 wafers per
month.

What surprised me is they are building it in Japan. I\'m wondering if
this has anything to do with the Chinese being more aggressive about
Taiwan being a part of the PRC.

Since so much of the demand for chips are by the car companies, and
the auto part company Denso Corp has a 10% stake in the new facility,
maybe they are demanding the plant be in Japan where they make the
cars, again to be independent of what happens in Taiwan.


It\'s also possible that it makes the logistics easier - if the main
customers of the plant are in Japan, and they get at least some of their
raw materials there, then it makes sense to build it there. Maybe there
are tax reasons too.

TMSC may also feel that having everything in Taiwan is a vulnerability
independent of PRC - a major plant in another country reduces the risk
from earthquakes, storms, plagues, and the like. But then it might have
made more sense to go for the USA or somewhere in Europe.

You are probably right to suspect PRC / Taiwan politics to have been at
least part of the reasoning, but it might not be the only reason.

Also if much of their facilities are outside Taiwan it will lower the
Chinese appetites, thus perhaps lower the US costs to keep guarding
the island. Good news anyway.

 

[Joe Gwinn]

On Mon, 21 Feb 2022 13:34:22 +0100, David Brown
<david.brown@hesbynett.no> wrote:

On 21/02/2022 11:37, Rick C wrote:
Maybe I\'m reading too much into this, or maybe this is nothing new,
just the first time I\'ve heard of it. TSMC was planning a new 7
billion dollar factory. Now they are adding 1.6 billion dollars to
expand capacity from 45,000 12 inch wafers to 55,000 wafers per
month.

What surprised me is they are building it in Japan. I\'m wondering if
this has anything to do with the Chinese being more aggressive about
Taiwan being a part of the PRC.

Since so much of the demand for chips are by the car companies, and
the auto part company Denso Corp has a 10% stake in the new facility,
maybe they are demanding the plant be in Japan where they make the
cars, again to be independent of what happens in Taiwan.


It\'s also possible that it makes the logistics easier - if the main
customers of the plant are in Japan, and they get at least some of their
raw materials there, then it makes sense to build it there. Maybe there
are tax reasons too.

TMSC may also feel that having everything in Taiwan is a vulnerability
independent of PRC - a major plant in another country reduces the risk
from earthquakes, storms, plagues, and the like. But then it might have
made more sense to go for the USA or somewhere in Europe.

You are probably right to suspect PRC / Taiwan politics to have been at
least part of the reasoning, but it might not be the only reason.

TMSC is building a foundry in Arizona.

..<https://www.reuters.com/technology/tsmc-says-construction-has-started-arizona-chip-factory-2021-06-01/>

Joe Gwinn