Apple has shown they can push suppliers to move to different areas. Or at least add capacity in other countries.
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Major Earthquake in Taiwan Halts Some Apple Chip Production Lines
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If only I could chew gum and walk at the same time. Not in Singapore, naturally.
Yeah I read about the tragedy of this earthquake before coming here to read about today’s tech news. I was well aware of the loss of life and wanted to see if there was any thing else happening on the planet, centered around tech. Specifically Apple. I don’t mind it being mentioned here.
Perhaps it is an edit but they even mention the loss of life in this very article so why is everyone calling it crass?
Because it just happened
We don't instantly need a breakdown of "what this means for Apple chip lines"
I think that could wait a day or three
It's just in poor taste
(Imagine a 9/11 article - on 9/11 - talking about the ramifications for NY real estate)
This is what MacProFCP doesn't understand. There is no alternative to TSMC if Apple wanted to diversify as no one aside from TSMC is capable of producting the cutting edge chips Apple and others need.
Intel is nowhere close to catching up to TSMC. Intel's fab business is doing poorly. How poorly? Last night, they reported a loss of $7 billion in 2023 for their foundry unit.
April 3 (Reuters) - Intel shares fell nearly 7% on Wednesday, as ballooning losses at its contract chip-making business signaled the company could take years to catch up with the profitability of rival Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co.
Disclosing new financials details for its foundry unit on late Tuesday, Intel said the business posted operating losses of $7 billion in 2023 compared with $5.2 billion in 2022.
Intel is set to lose more than $12 billion in market value if the losses hold.
The company has been spending billions of dollars to return as the dominant maker of cutting-edge chips, a position that it lost to Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co., which is now the world's biggest contract chipmaker.
My next Apple device can wait. Let those workers recover, rebuild, connect with their families as needed. And yes, events like this remind companies of the importance of diversification of their supply.
Apple switching from PowerPC chips to Intel chips, and later Intel chips to their own in-house M-series chips prove otherwise.
They can do whatever they feel like
I was responding to any need to publish a story here (at this time)
It's an area we miss editorial leadership from news organizations of yesteryear
Tasteful discretion is an underrated talent
Well, that was an interesting way to be woken up at 8am.
Building shook quite violently, a couple of bottles broke, but that was the extent of the damage here in Taipei.
Hualian on the east coast got the brunt of it.
Taiwan is well prepared for earthquakes despite this one being the biggest one for 25 years at 7.2 (as reported here - foreign sites are quoting slightly higher).
We had a power cut for half an hour and the Taipei news was showing people walking along metro tracks (raised above ground) but as far as I’m aware no serious injuries at all here in the capital.
I’m sure production of chips will resume quickly; things are very efficient here including disaster recovery. This isn’t China; it’s a small and relatively rich country, and the staff wages are ok. Not great but not China-based-foxcon rates.
Building shook quite violently, a couple of bottles broke, but that was the extent of the damage here in Taipei.
Hualian on the east coast got the brunt of it.
Taiwan is well prepared for earthquakes despite this one being the biggest one for 25 years at 7.2 (as reported here - foreign sites are quoting slightly higher).
We had a power cut for half an hour and the Taipei news was showing people walking along metro tracks (raised above ground) but as far as I’m aware no serious injuries at all here in the capital.
I’m sure production of chips will resume quickly; things are very efficient here including disaster recovery. This isn’t China; it’s a small and relatively rich country, and the staff wages are ok. Not great but not China-based-foxcon rates.
This is Taiwan, they don't make a pittance, they are a high-tech company that pays well.
You are perhaps referring to the assembly factories, but those are located in mainland China... they are indeed reported to make very little money.
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The latest update per CNN concerning TSMC.
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company Limited (TSMC), the chipmaking giant, said on Wednesday that its facilities which were impacted by the 7.4 magnitude earthquake are expected to resume production overnight.
TSMC reported that their overall tool recovery is at more than 70% within 10 hours of the earthquake striking the island. Safety systems are also operating normally, TSMC added.
The company noted that a small number of tools were damaged but that there was no damage to its extreme ultraviolet lithography (EUV) tools. Work at construction sites will resume after further inspections are complete, TSMC said.
Earlier, a TSMC spokesperson told CNN they had evacuated some manufacturing plants. All personnel are now safe, TSMC said in an update.
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So not that much impact to TMSC, compared to the disrupted lives of all the people that live and work in the more seismic effected locations.
focustaiwan.tw
Taiwanese semiconductor facilities will resume production overnight following earthquake
From CNN's Shawn DengTaiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company Limited (TSMC), the chipmaking giant, said on Wednesday that its facilities which were impacted by the 7.4 magnitude earthquake are expected to resume production overnight.
TSMC reported that their overall tool recovery is at more than 70% within 10 hours of the earthquake striking the island. Safety systems are also operating normally, TSMC added.
The company noted that a small number of tools were damaged but that there was no damage to its extreme ultraviolet lithography (EUV) tools. Work at construction sites will resume after further inspections are complete, TSMC said.
Earlier, a TSMC spokesperson told CNN they had evacuated some manufacturing plants. All personnel are now safe, TSMC said in an update.
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So not that much impact to TMSC, compared to the disrupted lives of all the people that live and work in the more seismic effected locations.
Nine dead, over 1,000 injured as earthquake rescue operations continue - Focus Taiwan
The strongest earthquake to hit Taiwan in nearly 25 years has resulted in nine deaths, 1,011 injuries, and 143 people trapped as of 10:00 p.m. Wednesday, according to central and local officials.
For example, the 1989 7.0m Loma Prieta earthquake - I was in my Apple office (cubicle) in Valley Green 3 when it hit at 17:04 PDT - a mere 10 miles from the epicenter.
That quake substantially shut down Apple's HQ operations in Cupertino for three days while its buildings were safety-inspected. It also took "apple.com" off the Internet until I was able to re-enter Mariani 1 and get things up again. Apple's product manufacturing operations in Fremont (much further away from the quake epicenter) were down for a day.
The Infinite Loop campus was built afterward, on a lot & facility that Motorola had owned before the earthquake.
SEE APPLE.
You put all your eggs in 1 basket. You get burned.
All Chips and Production located in Taiwan or China.
Nothing made here on USA soil.
You put all your eggs in 1 basket. You get burned.
All Chips and Production located in Taiwan or China.
Nothing made here on USA soil.
No loss of life was mentioned in the article, so I, like other readers here that don’t live in Southeast Asia, I’m sure, were unaware.
That earthquake fortunately was very brief, sounded like a freight train as it propagated outward. But on the top of Loma Prieta, it caused a car to do 180 in the air, and throw a refrigerator out of a kitchen window as far as vertical displacement examples. Most remember the long distance propagation and amplification thru different SF Bay Area underground stratum. Yes remember it for how many local homes showed cracks and chimneys got damaged. SF had similar buildings types damaged. The most horrific observation was the freeway section in Oakland collapsing onto many vehicles. One direction was right on top of another underneath.
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Another delay for the Ipad pro oled...
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That's terrible! My heart goes out to the citizens of Taiwan.
Sadly at this point in time you are incorrect. There are NO options that meet the standards for Apple Silicon. I agree that it would be ideal but with cutting edge tech and patents it is usually difficult for other companies to do the same thing. All the other SOC companies are so far behind that even they are using TSMC (Intel is an example and I believe even Qualcomm and NVIDIA uses TSMC) TSMC just happens to be the best at what they do. CHip production isn't as simple as OLED. You can equate this with the Qualcomm chips in the iPhone, as there are really NO other options for Apple.
Workers in Taiwan are much more underpaid and overworked compared to fabs in other parts of the world. It's basically as close as you can get to a "sweatshop" for semiconductors. It's also partially why TSMC is having trouble hiring workers in Arizona.
I’m sure Apple has been reevaluating Taiwan frequently as a manufacturer of its chips since China has threatened to take control of Taiwan.
Similar to Hong Kong and when China took back control of Hong Kong from the British almost 30 years ago, they would largely not interfere too much in Taiwan’s economics as it is a great source of income for the PRC. Basically it would be run as a capitalistic territory under a socialist country.
Depending on Apple’s stance on human rights, which to this point has been mostly talk, they may very well keep producing microchips in Taiwan even under China control, but if they put their money where their mouths are, they’ll move production.
Similar to Hong Kong and when China took back control of Hong Kong from the British almost 30 years ago, they would largely not interfere too much in Taiwan’s economics as it is a great source of income for the PRC. Basically it would be run as a capitalistic territory under a socialist country.
Depending on Apple’s stance on human rights, which to this point has been mostly talk, they may very well keep producing microchips in Taiwan even under China control, but if they put their money where their mouths are, they’ll move production.
Clearly the evil Chinese caused the earthquake to move chip manufacturing out of Taiwan