TSMC We have been deceived by the United States
TSMC is targeting the U.S. market.
TSMC has long viewed the U.S. as an important market** because of the large number of large orders placed with it by U.S. customers. However, because the United States does not subsidize the construction of chip factories, TSMC has to bear higher construction costs. This situation has led to the postponement of TSMC's investment plans in two factories in the United States, leaving TSMC deeply helpless and disappointed.
However, TSMC has had to face this reality. In 2020, TSMC experienced a series of events such as the invitation of the United States to build factories and the loss of orders for cooperation with Huawei. Faced with the decline in orders in the mainland market, TSMC wanted to make better use of the opportunities to cooperate with American customers, and was also attracted by the subsidy policy of the United States, so it announced an investment plan to build a factory in the United States. TSMC initially plans to invest 12 billion yuan to build a 5-nanometer chip factory. Considering that the 5nm process was the most advanced process at that time, and the mainstream market basically used the 5nm process for chip manufacturing, TSMC's investment plan was very sincere, and the United States was very satisfied with its investment plan. Subsequently, at the end of 2022, TSMC's first chip factory was completed, and TSMC announced an additional investment of 40 billion yuan and increased the number of factories for 4nm and 2nm processes, respectively. TSMC is hopeful for the future of the U.S. market, and President Liu Deyin said that after the two factories are completed and put into operation, annual sales will reach about 10 billion yuan.
TSMC's bumpy road in the United States.
However, years have passed, and TSMC's development in the US market has not been as smooth sailing as they expected. Yes"Halberd"to describe TSMC's difficult situation in the U.S. market, even worse than they expected. TSMC seems to have experienced an elaborate conspiracy, and the United States has already dug a trap for it, just waiting for it to take risks.
According to the original plan, TSMC's first factory in the United States will be commissioned in 2024, and the second factory will be commissioned in 2026. But now the situation has changed, and the first plant has been postponed until 2025 to start mass production, and the second plant has even been postponed until 2027 or even 2028. Liu Deyin said that when TSMC decides to build factories overseas, it will consider local subsidies and support. In other words, if the U.S. doesn't provide enough subsidies, TSMC is unlikely to continue building factories in the U.S. Of course, the United States is not idle in the localization of the integrated circuit industry, and has also formulated a corresponding subsidy law, but while receiving subsidies, TSMC must share 75% of its excess profits with the United States. In other words, after TSMC gets the money, it must return 75% of the subsidy amount to the United States. It can be said that the United States is thinking"Empty your pockets", with very little subsidies in exchange for huge market space. Faced with this situation, TSMC can only sigh: we are American"Miserable manure pits"。
TSMC has suspended its subsidy application in the United States and can only observe the development of the situation step by step. In addition, outside the U.S. market, TSMC also launched"Spare tire program"to build more fabs at its regional headquarters in Japan and Taiwan. The company has plans to build a 28-nanometer processing plant, a 3-nanometer processing plant, and even a 1-nanometer processing plant. As long as it does not build a factory in the United States, TSMC has unlimited possibilities and can decide its own destiny more autonomously. After all, TSMC is not limited to the U.S. market, it also has a vast international market. For TSMC, the most important thing now is to remain cautious in an environment full of uncertainty and look for more development opportunities.
Summary. TSMC used to be hopeful for the U.S. market, but now it is facing a series of difficulties and setbacks. The lack of subsidy support has become a huge problem for building factories in the U.S. market, and the surplus profits must be shared with the U.S. As a result, TSMC's plans to build a factory in the United States had to be postponed and affected. However, TSMC did not stop there, but increased investment and distribution in other regions to maintain the company's competitiveness and development. Despite the current uncertain situation, TSMC still maintains a positive and optimistic attitude, believing that through hard work and innovation, more opportunities and breakthroughs can be found. In the context of increasingly fierce competition in the global integrated circuit industry, TSMC must continue to learn, adapt to market changes, and maintain a keen vision and steady development strategy in order to continue to flourish in the future.