Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) founderMorris Chang (張忠謀) yesterday said that the rise of a “red supply chain,” which could see China’s semiconductor industry outpace Taiwan’s within three years, would not be as easy to achieve as people think.
“I have not seen a red tide from the windows of the TSMC offices,” Chang said when asked about the report before attending a forum in Taipei.
The technology, production capablity and client trust that TSMC enjoys are all in the lead and the firm’s status has advanced even further now from that of a few years ago, Chang said, adding that “it will not be easy for China to outrun us.”
Photo: CNA
The “red supply chain” has emerged as parts made by Chinese firms are replacing those made by Taiwanese manufacturers, which makes it harder for the nation’s firms to maintain competitiveness in the Chinese market.
Chang who is head of the world’s largest contract chipmaker said that recent layoffs and unpaid leave in the technological sector are due to a temporary slowdown and is mainly because inventories have not been depleted.
Chang said that inventory depletion would be completed by the end of the year and that he expects that a recovery would be seen in the first quarter of next year.
On speculation that TSMC might build a 12-inch wafer plant in China, Chang said that “there are many factors that need to be considered. We need a long period of time to think it over.”
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