There are probably not many people who believe that Taiwan is unstable because of geopolitical factors, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) chairman Mark Liu (劉德音) said yesterday in Taipei in response to comments by Intel’s top executive.
Intel CEO Pat Gelsinger on Wednesday told the Fortune Brainstorm Tech summit in California that the US government should support a sustainable semiconductor supply chain in the US, in part because “Taiwan is not a stable place.”
With China sending 27 military warplanes into Taiwan’s air defense identification zone on Sunday, Gelsinger asked: Does that “make you more comfortable or less if you’re now dependent on Taiwan as the singular source of technology for the most critical aspect of our human existence and our national security and economy for the future?”
Photo: CNA
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Asked about the comment, Liu said: “There’s nothing that needs to be addressed.”
“TSMC does not speak ill of other companies in the industry,” Liu said, adding that there were probably not many people who believed Gelsinger’s argument.
Geopolitical tensions might have a short-term impact, but Taiwan could help create a brilliant decade for the global semiconductor industry, with the best technology and the best manufacturing ecosystem, he said.
TSMC’s construction of a plant in Arizona is on schedule and is likely to begin mass production, mainly deploying 5-nanometer technology, during the first quarter of 2024, he said.
The company also plans to begin building a factory in Japan’s Kumamoto Prefecture next year after announcing a partnership with Sony Semiconductor Solutions Corp early last month, he said.
Despite labor shortages that have emerged in Japan, TSMC expects to begin mass production using 22-nanometer and 28-nanometer processes by the end of 2024, Liu said.
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Global demand for semiconductors would continue to grow, he said, adding that the production value of the global semiconductor sector would reach US$1 trillion in 2030, creating US$3 trillion to US$4 trillion in value in the electronic products market.
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