TSMC Founder: Globalization in the chip sector is dead

The founder of chipmaker TSMC has explicitly defended the US government’s efforts to curb China’s advance in the semiconductor industry. Even if some points fill him with concern.

From his point of view, the western industrialized countries have to adjust to the fact that chips will no longer be available in huge quantities and at the same time at the lowest prices in the near future. Because that is the result of the embargo policy against China. According to Morris Chang, this will lead to a “division” of the global supply chains – on the one hand there is trade with Chinese participation, on the other hand the high-end products from TSMC and Co.

“There is no question in my mind that globalization in the chip sector is dead. Free trade is not quite so dead, but it is under threat,” he said, according to a news agency report Reuters. “As costs go up, chip adoption will either stop or slow down significantly,” said Chang, who at 91 is still an influential voice in Taiwan’s IT industry. “We’re going to be in a different game.”

Technology Bulwark

TSMC is seen in Taiwan as an important bulwark against its big neighbor. Because the Chinese economy is also dependent on chip imports from the island in many areas. Should China attack the country militarily in order to annex it, the supplies would quickly stop.

The TSMC founder is correspondingly critical of the efforts of the USA and Europe to build up a significantly stronger national chip industry. Because the partners in the western industrialized countries could lose the motivation to work particularly hard to protect Taiwan. “Of course, America cannot rely solely on chips from Taiwan,” Chang said. “Of course, this is a dilemma for Taiwan.”

TSMC itself is also following a double-edged sword. In order to stay in the game with many orders, one wants to set up chip factories in the USA and Europe. However, the most advanced processing techniques are reserved for the factories in Taiwan, where they provide protection from China – which, despite its intensive efforts, lags behind the Taiwanese level by “at least five or six years”, according to Chang.

See also:

Logo, Chip, Tsmc, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company