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Apple Chip Supplier TSMC Plans to Build Second $12 Billion Arizona Factory

CarAnalogy said:
This is why China has been colonizing Africa.
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I’m starting to get worried China might have long been accumulating these critical raw materials without Us even paying attention, and now when we try to act, things are much tougher than ever.
Pretty soon, we might enter an era where new iPhone new iPad new electronics can’t be produced because of the key material missing.
I hope not all is lost.
 
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The potential water issues (both for the plant and future employees) really doesn't seem to be on these folk's radar (Intel management too as they're adding some in AZ as well)...although the water issue seems to be a bit of a no brainer to onlookers. Wanting water etc. as time goes on, the upper midwest (great lakes area) seems safest bet in the U.S. as things continue to heat up.
orbital~debris said:
So this, and the Phoenix plant, are ways to diversify manufacturing and avoid dependency on Taiwan (a location under threat).
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Seems a bit of a yes and no. It's good to see TMSC doing this for a 2nd plant, but like the 1st one (in AZ) won't be their latest tech by the time the off shore plant (here in the U.S.) spins up. So good from the standpoint of getting some additional plants offshore of China's publicly stated invasion desires, but the plants chips will be used for 2nd rate stuff by then.

TMSC always keeps the latest on Taiwan (which Apple uses and depends on) - which the company and Taiwan itself view as an insurance policy of support in case of China decides to pull a Ukraine and invade them. The war games for many years now do not show the U.S. able to win such a contest BTW. But in case of an invasion, for Apple, being able to sell older gen phones might be what they're aiming for initially with their supply chain location diversification.
 
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Skyscraperfan said:
Haha, I must admit that I usually hate it when companies change their logos to look more modern. Most of them get rid of any 3D effects for example. I dont't see that as progress.
www.theverge.com

BMW’s new flat logo is everything that’s wrong with modern logo design

Introduced alongside the new i4 electric sedan concept.
www.theverge.com www.theverge.com
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Why would you make your logo harder to see?
Oh the irony! 😂😂😂

03046E7B-4112-41D9-A6E4-D5E52B506D9F.jpeg
 
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darngooddesign said:
It's great for Arizona and great for US workers, but should we be building a second chip factory, which will require a lot of water to run, in a state suffering from historic drought? Hopefully they are also leaning into solar for its power requirements because the Hoover Dam's hydro output is already suffering as those water levels drop.
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They have secured water sources just as intel F12, 32, 42 and soon 52/62 and the chandler site.
One of the biggest issues TSMC may have is finding employees. Their strong arm tactics and pre-start up requirements are deterring a lot of people. Not too many people want to spent a better part of a year in Taiwan.
 
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Good stuff. I hope this factory is successful. I agree with IIGS comments on national security and the location of the factory. Hope this helps us also create high paying jobs and keep a technological edge. By the way, they should have hired a different Spanish translator, or not use an online translator. ¡Enhorabuena por su gran trabajo! There you go, short and sweet. I guess as a rule of thumb, poor translations use more words as they strain to be as verbatim as possible and need to use extra filler words to make some sense, good ones use fewer words as the important thing is to convey the meaning. My 2 cents.
 
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Shirasaki said:
Pretty soon, we might enter an era where new iPhone new iPad new electronics can’t be produced because of the key material missing.
I hope not all is lost.
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Yeah exactly. I realize what I said can be taken as a strong statement, but if one looks into it I think it is accurate.

Not only do they have exclusive rights to a ton of valuable raw materials mines, they have been moving people there to set up cities.

It’s been a underreported economic battleground for some time. China has always played the long game and the US plays the short game.
 
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For the many that apparently are unaware, humidity control is a bigger issue than water which will mainly be recycled, which makes Arizona a great place to build a high-end FAB.
 
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darngooddesign said:
It's great for Arizona and great for US workers, but should we be building a second chip factory, which will require a lot of water to run, in a state suffering from historic drought? Hopefully they are also leaning into solar for its power requirements because the Hoover Dam's hydro output is already suffering as those water levels drop.
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How much NET water does a fab need?
How much does that compare with eg the use by the entire City of Phoenix?
Did you even bother to look up either of these before you felt compelled to aggressively virtue signal? Or are numbers irrelevant when you have holiness on your side?
 
CarAnalogy said:
Yeah exactly. I realize what I said can be taken as a strong statement, but if one looks into it I think it is accurate.

Not only do they have exclusive rights to a ton of valuable raw materials mines, they have been moving people there to set up cities.

It’s been an underreported economic battleground for some time. China has always played the long game and the US plays the short game.
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Thanks capitalism and short-sighted nature of the stock market, wall street maniacs and more, I guess. Just chase after the profit at the quickest way possible. Instant gratification.

Just thinking about the possibility of China starving the high tech industry of the entire world is terrifying and creepy.

To be perfectly honest, modern Chinese also love to play the short game rather than long game, but cultural difference means more people in China would play long game than in the US and pretty much rest of the western world. Just look at how the Energy crisis unfold in EU this winter.
 
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name99 said:
How much NET water does a fab need?
How much does that compare with eg the use by the entire City of Phoenix?
Did you even bother to look up either of these before you felt compelled to aggressively virtue signal? Or are numbers irrelevant when you have holiness on your side?
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Look at you, using words like "virtue signal". Great job!!!
 
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