Uhh, what world are you living in? Semiconductor shortages (and other commodities) are killing my company here in Silicon Valley.We now have a glut of chips by the way..![]()
Exactly - came to the forums to post the same thing. This is the big elephant in the room. These fabs use an obscene amount of water. There may have been some very good incentives to build the plant there, but they should have looked beyond that and more closely at the long term viability. I'm all for a healthy foundry capability in the US, but putting it in Arizona was just dumb. Also, I suspect we'll have to more strongly invest in the education of the next generation of process engineers to drive all the R&D necessary to stay on the bleeding edge. And I wonder what happens when the China/Taiwan situation hits the fan...Just in time for Arizona to run out of water!
If you ever follow the news, you will know Taiwan has been a hotspot for US and China tension for decades. I don’t want to go political here, but the short version is, if China ever do something drastic, those semiconductor factories and people are going to be in danger. I’d much prefer TSMC migrate their technologies and production facilities away from Taiwan to preserve it than sticking to where it is and got demolished should things go bad. These technologies are extremely expensive (multi-billion dollars) to rebuild you know.Why in the world would TAIWAN Semiconductor stop making chips in Taiwan?
Sounds like some ethnic or racial fearmongering to me.
Have you ever been to Taiwain? It's one of the most robust electronics manufacturing communities on the planet. They used to make 90% of LCD screens there and basically every computer motherboard. Computer hardware is a huge business for the Taiwanese and the cutting edge stuff is only found in one place -- Taiwan. Anyway, as long as the Taiwanese have this expertise they will manufacture in their own country, unless someone can beat them. So far, no dice.
The US plants will be doing some impressive work, but all the cutting edge stuff will be done by the TAIWANESE Semiconductor corporation in TAIWAN. Do I like that? I don't really have an opinion, because I don't judge people by their national origin or ethnicity.
Look at that, $12B of domestic chip plant investment that didn't need $52B in US government subsidies (handouts). And we sued Airbus/Europe for the same thing a few years ago.
As does every large company in the USA. Nearly all states offer incentives to any company that builds a manufacturing or large corporate presence in their state. There's nothing different or preferential to TSMC - they simply got what every other domestic company gets to attract their presence to a state.Appears TSMC will/did receive various types of subsidies from both the fed and AZ/local govts for building the AZ factory.
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US chip subsidy bill 'vital to TSMC Arizona plant' passes new Senate vote
A $52B US chip subsidy bill has convincingly passed a new Senate vote, with 64 in favor and just 34...9to5mac.com
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Intel slams US subsidies for TSMC in Arizona's clash of chip titans
CEO Gelsinger questions aid for foreign companies as Congress weighs billsasia.nikkei.com
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Phoenix okays development deal with TSMC for $12 billion chip factory
City officials in Phoenix, Arizona on Wednesday unanimously voted to authorize a development agreement with chipmaker Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co that would provide $205 million in city funds for infrastructure such as roads and water improvements for a planned...www.reuters.com
Not if they’re smart. The US bill requires unions and union wages.Appears TSMC will/did receive various types of subsidies from both the fed and AZ/local govts for building the AZ factory.
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US chip subsidy bill 'vital to TSMC Arizona plant' passes new Senate vote
A $52B US chip subsidy bill has convincingly passed a new Senate vote, with 64 in favor and just 34...9to5mac.com
![]()
Intel slams US subsidies for TSMC in Arizona's clash of chip titans
CEO Gelsinger questions aid for foreign companies as Congress weighs billsasia.nikkei.com
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Phoenix okays development deal with TSMC for $12 billion chip factory
City officials in Phoenix, Arizona on Wednesday unanimously voted to authorize a development agreement with chipmaker Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co that would provide $205 million in city funds for infrastructure such as roads and water improvements for a planned...www.reuters.com
Which is not the point of your deflection.As does every large company in the USA. Nearly all states offer incentives to any company that builds a manufacturing or large corporate presence in their state. There's nothing different or preferential to TSMC - they simply got what every other domestic company gets to attract their presence to a state.
This is the first of several fab buildings for the site.Just a couple of questions - I wonder how much capacity TSMC is bringing on line relative to its overall capacity. Despite the $12B investment, my understanding is that this is a small factory relative to others that TSMC has built and is building elsewhere. Hopefully, the US based wafer output will be cost competitive with similar fabs in other countries.
Bernie Sanders wanted that amendment added, but it got voted down.Not if they’re smart. The US bill requires unions and union wages.
Look closely at what you quoted from me..."US government". Reading comprehension is essential if you want to ever call someone out on something.Which is not the point of your deflection.
Your original post said...
"BootsWalking said:
Look at that, $12B of domestic chip plant investment that didn't need $52B in US government subsidies (handouts)."
I'm not sure the capacity of this single plant, but it is relatively small in the overall production supply.Just a couple of questions - I wonder how much capacity TSMC is bringing on line relative to its overall capacity. Despite the $12B investment, my understanding is that this is a small factory relative to others that TSMC has built and is building elsewhere. Hopefully, the US based wafer output will be cost competitive with similar fabs in other countries.
As chip makers race worldwide to boost production and ease supply shortages, no country is expanding faster than China, which is slated to build 31 major semiconductor factories, known as fabs, during the four years through 2024, according to the chip-industry group SEMI.
If you dig into TSMC’s operations more, I think it’s somewhere in the range of 92% of the water they use in manufacturing is recycled. Initial start up is large, but is not constant from what I understand.I’m happy to see this type of thing being built in the US, but is Phoenix really the best choice for this? Semiconductor manufacturing uses a lot of water, and Phoenix (and the entire Southwestern US) doesn’t exactly have a lot to spare given the mega-drought.
The company will most likely get some of that new govt aid as part of the bill that passed.Look closely at what you quoted from me..."US government". Reading comprehension is essential if you want to ever call someone out on something.
TSMC committed $12B of its own capital for this fab long before the idea for this bill even came into being, which is precisely the point I made about TSMC not needing the federal subsidy the bill provides. You can't use a time machine to travel backwards in time to make a point.The company will most likely get some of that new govt aid as part of the bill that passed.
Try updating your research before saying that it will NOT receive Any US Govt aid.
There are already media articles on how the new legislation will most likely help chip companies.
Regardless, as even You have pointed out already, many companies get Some govt aid for building their factories in the US, regardless of Fed or state/local level aid, as that's already widely publicized for years.
Not at all. If you're aware of the geopolitics in that area, Taiwan is on the threat of being invaded by China. China sees Taiwan as a "breakaway province" of their country, which is why they feel entitled to invade and annex their territory if they can. The west and China are of course not the best of buds, so it's a bad idea if China has control of Taiwan because that would mean they can also control a huge portion of the chip market.Why in the world would TAIWAN Semiconductor stop making chips in Taiwan?
Sounds like some ethnic or racial fearmongering to me.
TSMC committed $12B of its own capital for this fab long before the idea for this bill even came into being, which is precisely the point I made about TSMC not needing the federal subsidy the bill provides. You can't use a time machine to travel backwards in time to make a point.