The Ministry of Economic Affairs (MOEA) yesterday said reports of global tech firms cutting dependence on Taiwan-made chips were inaccurate, after chip designer MediaTek Inc (聯發科) issued a clarification emphasizing it would expand its business based on Taiwan’s semiconductor supply chain.
“The recent reports on the global supply chain shifting away from Taiwan are inaccurate and MediaTek Inc has pointed out the mistake in a filing,” the ministry said, responding to news reports that global tech firms would require their chip suppliers to have multiple sources to cut dependence on Taiwan amid rising US-China trade tensions.
The reports cited MediaTek chief executive officer Rick Tsai (蔡力行).
Photo: Ritchie B. Tongo, EPA-EFE
The Hsinchu-based company, which designs chips used in smartphones, laptops and other technology applications, said in the filing that it has no intention of moving away from Taiwan in any way, but would continue to invest in the nation and work with existing partners in its bid to expand in overseas markets.
As the world’s fourth-largest chip company, MediaTek always has multiple suppliers to serve a global clientele, it said, adding that its investment and procurement spending in Taiwan amounts to NT$300 billion (US$9.64 billion) a year.
MediaTek would seek to gain customers and business globally based on Taiwan’s robust semiconductor supply chain, it said.
The ministry said that Taiwan has a well-established and irreplaceable semiconductor ecosystem that encompasses upstream, midstream and downstream players, and has cultivated semiconductor talent for more than 40 years.
The investment environment in Taiwan is safe and built upon a democratic legal system that would continue to attract companies from global semiconductor supply chains, the ministry said.
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (台積電), the world’s largest chipmaker, whose clients include Apple Inc, MediaTek, Advanced Micro Devices Inc, Nvidia Corp and Intel Corp, has reiterated its commitment to keeping advanced manufacturing technologies in Taiwan after announcing plans to add capacity in Hsinchu and Kaohsiung, the ministry said.
International firms have followed suit.
US semiconductor equipment manufacturer Applied Materials Inc in 2019 set up a manufacturing center and a research lab in the Southern Taiwan Science Park (南部科學園區), while Dutch semiconductor equipment manufacturer ASML Holding NV in 2020 launched a global extreme ultraviolet training center for engineers in the same park, the ministry said.
Entegris Inc, a supplier of advanced materials and process solutions for the semiconductor industry and other high-tech sectors, is expanding its investment in a new advanced manufacturing facility in Kaohsiung to about US$500 million in three years, while German science and technology company Merck Group has unveiled plans to spend US$600 million expanding its manufacturing and research investment in Taiwan over the next five to seven years, the ministry said.
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