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REUTERS FILE PHOTO: Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC) logo is seen near computer motherboard in this illustration taken January 8, 2024. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration/File Photo
(Reuters) - Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC), the world's largest contract chipmaker, is set to win more than $5 billion in federal grants from the United States government for setting up a chipmaking plant in Arizona, Bloomberg News reported on Friday.
The award is yet to be finalized and it is unclear whether TSMC will tap the loans and guarantees also on offer from the 2022 Chips and Science Act, the report said, citing people familiar with the matter.
TSMC did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment.
Do we think the US has enough restrictions for this handout ?
TSMC makes > 90% of all the advanced silicon. All of Apple, Nvidia, AMD and much of Intel future product line depends on their fabs in Taiwan.
They have been clear their advanced technology always stays in Taiwan. But the time Pase 1 comes on line in anything but pilot line is 2026 at the earliest and will be N-2.
TSMC margin is going to be > >40% and had a profit of more than 26 BILLION and US runs a deficit and fund a foreign company 5 Billion?
US has far more effective and efficient ways to enable technology security for its Military and economy than handing out money we can’t afford to such rich company.
Do we think the US has enough restrictions for this handout ?
TSMC makes > 90% of all the advanced silicon. All of Apple, Nvidia, AMD and much of Intel future product line depends on their fabs in Taiwan.
They have been clear their advanced technology always stays in Taiwan. But the time Pase 1 comes on line in anything but pilot line is 2026 at the earliest and will be N-2.
TSMC margin is going to be > >40% and had a profit of more than 26 BILLION and US runs a deficit and fund a foreign company 5 Billion?
US has far more effective and efficient ways to enable technology security for its Military and economy than handing out money we can’t afford to such rich company.
People keep talking about companies profitability and whether they need subsidies.
No one needs the US subsidies. they will gladly do fabs in Taiwan, Singapore, Malaysia, Japan etc. Thy would love to build in China if the US would stop the trade wars.
The US NEEDS fabs in the US and they need to give subsidies to compete with other countries. Supply chain is one thing, but also Fabs are the best (IMO) way to increase the economy of a local area and provide the best jobs.
The US is giving subsidies like almost every other country because it is good for the country, locality etc.
Side Note: My prediction: When the phase one starts up in 2025, It will be making the technology used by AMDs leading chips. It will also be the most advanced technology running in in the state of Arizona.
People keep talking about companies profitability and whether they need subsidies.
No one needs the US subsidies. they will gladly do fabs in Taiwan, Singapore, Malaysia, Japan etc. Thy would love to build in China if the US would stop the trade wars.
The US NEEDS fabs in the US and they need to give subsidies to compete with other countries. Supply chain is one thing, but also Fabs are the best (IMO) way to increase the economy of a local area and provide the best jobs.
The US is giving subsidies like almost every other country because it is good for the country, locality etc.
Side Note: My prediction: When the phase one starts up in 2025, It will be making the technology used by AMDs leading chips. It will also be the most advanced technology running in in the state of Arizona.
A driving force behind the negotiations to bring TSMC manufacturing capabilities to US is the Defense Department and Energy Department. They want to make sure semiconductors used by the American weaponry projects can be manufactured domestically.
They may be over the budget most of the time and late in most of the time, but they have used "real" products to support America as a superpower. A supplier's roadmap alone is not enough for them.
DoD and DoE are very practical than many people think.
If considering GF got $1.5B, $5B seems not much comparing with new investment and importance. What will intel get from this $52B pie? $20B? Then it will be interesting to see how it becomes politically correct.
A driving force behind the negotiations to bring TSMC manufacturing capabilities to US is the Defense Department and Energy Department. They want to make sure semiconductors used by the American weaponry projects can be manufactured domestically.
They may be over the budget most of the time and late in most of the time, but they have used "real" products to support America as a superpower. A supplier's roadmap alone is not enough for them.
DoD and DoE are very practical than many people think.
I’m betting the DoD buys plenty of chips and hardware that includes chips fabbed at TSMC. Hard to build anything with a non-Intel processor that wasn’t fabbed at TSMC or GlobalFoundries.
Not just TSMC and Intel, actually most major semiconductor players, domestic or international, do not have a single site in the DoD Trusted Foundry list at all.
Texas Instruments, Microchips, Micron, AMD, Nvidia, Qualcomm, Samsung, UMC, SK Hynix, NXP, Infineon, STMicroelectronics, Win Semiconductors, and many more are not in the list.
There are many reasons why it happened this way. One major reason is semiconductor volume needed for DoD and other national security related applications are too small.
DoD knows it is too small to ask too much. So the Trusted Foundry list became more or less a reference or suggested list.
I’m betting the DoD buys plenty of chips and hardware that includes chips fabbed at TSMC. Hard to build anything with a non-Intel processor that wasn’t fabbed at TSMC or GlobalFoundries.
Government/DoD sourcing rules are very complex (and well documented) but buying hardware with a TSMC chip in it is not what I meant by DoD buying from TSMC. I think It will become more clear when the Intel program is announced.
