Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) yesterday stayed mum after a report said that the chipmaker has pitched chip designers Nvidia Corp, Advanced Micro Devices Inc and Broadcom Inc about taking a stake in a joint venture to operate Intel Corp’s factories.
Industry sources told the Central News Agency (CNA) that the possibility of TSMC proposing to operate Intel’s wafer fabs is low, as the Taiwanese chipmaker has always focused on its core business.
There is also concern over possible technology leaks if TSMC were to form a joint venture to operate Intel’s factories, Concord Securities Co (康和證券) analyst Kerry Huang (黃志祺) told CNA.
Photo: Ann Wang, Reuters
Citing four sources familiar with the matter, Reuters reported that TSMC would not own more than 50 percent of the joint venture.
The talks are at an early stage and any final deal would need approval from US President Donald Trump’s administration, which does not want Intel or its foundry division to be fully foreign-owned, the sources said.
Some sources added that TSMC also made such proposals to Qualcomm Inc.
Intel and other related companies also declined to comment on the report.
The report came after TSMC last week announced with Trump that the company planned to make a fresh US$100 billion investment in the US, including three advanced chip wafer factories, two advanced chip packaging factories, and a research and development center.
The Chinese-language Liberty Times (the sister newspaper of the Taipei Times) cited sources in the semiconductor industry who said that TSMC might not want to invest in Intel, as the US chip giant has many problems, and the two companies are different on many fronts, including corporate culture and manufacturing operations.
It is also impossible for TSMC to negotiate with its US customers to form a joint venture with less than a 50 percent stake, not to mention that former Intel directors have voiced opposition to TSMC taking control of Intel’s foundry business, the Liberty Times reported.
It remains to be seen whether the speculation would become reality, the sources said.
Intel reported net losses of US$18.8 billion for last year, its first yearly loss since 1986, driven by large impairments. Its foundry division’s property and plant equipment had a book value of US$108 billion as of Dec. 31 last year, a company filing showed.
Trump is keen to revive Intel’s fortunes and his administration has asked TSMC, the world’s leading contract chipmaker, to help turn around the troubled US chip giant, Reuters reported.
Bloomberg News last month reported that TSMC was considering a plan to acquire and operate equity in Intel’s factories at the request of the Trump administration, while Broadcom was interested in acquiring Intel’s chip design and marketing sector.
STILL HOPEFUL: Delayed payment of NT$5.35 billion from an Indian server client sent its earnings plunging last year, but the firm expects a gradual pickup ahead Asustek Computer Inc (華碩), the world’s No. 5 PC vendor, yesterday reported an 87 percent slump in net profit for last year, dragged by a massive overdue payment from an Indian cloud service provider. The Indian customer has delayed payment totaling NT$5.35 billion (US$162.7 million), Asustek chief financial officer Nick Wu (吳長榮) told an online earnings conference. Asustek shipped servers to India between April and June last year. The customer told Asustek that it is launching multiple fundraising projects and expected to repay the debt in the short term, Wu said. The Indian customer accounted for less than 10 percent to Asustek’s
‘DECENT RESULTS’: The company said it is confident thanks to an improving world economy and uptakes in new wireless and AI technologies, despite US uncertainty Pegatron Corp (和碩) yesterday said it plans to build a new server manufacturing factory in the US this year to address US President Donald Trump’s new tariff policy. That would be the second server production base for Pegatron in addition to the existing facilities in Taoyuan, the iPhone assembler said. Servers are one of the new businesses Pegatron has explored in recent years to develop a more balanced product lineup. “We aim to provide our services from a location in the vicinity of our customers,” Pegatron president and chief executive officer Gary Cheng (鄭光治) told an online earnings conference yesterday. “We
LEAK SOURCE? There would be concern over the possibility of tech leaks if TSMC were to form a joint venture to operate Intel’s factories, an analyst said Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) yesterday stayed mum after a report said that the chipmaker has pitched chip designers Nvidia Corp, Advanced Micro Devices Inc and Broadcom Inc about taking a stake in a joint venture to operate Intel Corp’s factories. Industry sources told the Central News Agency (CNA) that the possibility of TSMC proposing to operate Intel’s wafer fabs is low, as the Taiwanese chipmaker has always focused on its core business. There is also concern over possible technology leaks if TSMC were to form a joint venture to operate Intel’s factories, Concord Securities Co (康和證券) analyst Kerry Huang (黃志祺)
It was late morning and steam was rising from water tanks atop the colorful, but opaque-windowed, “soapland” sex parlors in a historic Tokyo red-light district. Walking through the narrow streets, camera in hand, was Beniko — a former sex worker who is trying to capture the spirit of the area once known as Yoshiwara through photography. “People often talk about this neighborhood having a ‘bad history,’” said Beniko, who goes by her nickname. “But the truth is that through the years people have lived here, made a life here, sometimes struggled to survive. I want to share that reality.” In its mid-17th to