Morris Chang: if there is a war, "the US will have a lot more than chip manufacturing to worry about."

[soAsian]

US chip output growth a futile exercise, warns TSMC founder

Production talent isn't here, costs are high ... so how's that multi-billion-dollar Arizona plant coming, eh?

www.theregister.com

this article report the same as the one i saw on Taiwan newspaper.

There certainly will be a lot more for the US to worry about if there is a war between China for Taiwan.

"The US has a ready supply of design talent, "it's the best in the world," Chang said. "Taiwan has very little design talent, and TSMC has absolutely none." But to develop and grow a successful chip manufacturing industry, the US will need to address its own serious fabrication talent shortages, he opined "

Taiwan have no design talents at all(?). how about MediaTek?

"We were extremely naive," Chang said, "in expecting comparable costs, but manufacturing chips in the US is 50 percent more expensive than in Taiwan."

ouch!

"US experts seem on the same page as Chang. One think tank said that it thinks there will be several thousand positions left unfilled in any new factories due to a lack of suitably skilled semiconductor manufacturing workers in the nation. Chang added that TSMC tried multiple arrangements of American and foreign employees to staff its Oregon plant, but without much reduction in costs. "

double ouchs!

 

[hist78]

US chip output growth a futile exercise, warns TSMC founder

Production talent isn't here, costs are high ... so how's that multi-billion-dollar Arizona plant coming, eh?

www.theregister.com

this article report the same as the one i saw on Taiwan newspaper.

There certainly will be a lot more for the US to worry about if there is a war between China for Taiwan.

"The US has a ready supply of design talent, "it's the best in the world," Chang said. "Taiwan has very little design talent, and TSMC has absolutely none." But to develop and grow a successful chip manufacturing industry, the US will need to address its own serious fabrication talent shortages, he opined "

Taiwan have no design talents at all(?). how about MediaTek?

"We were extremely naive," Chang said, "in expecting comparable costs, but manufacturing chips in the US is 50 percent more expensive than in Taiwan."

ouch!

"US experts seem on the same page as Chang. One think tank said that it thinks there will be several thousand positions left unfilled in any new factories due to a lack of suitably skilled semiconductor manufacturing workers in the nation. Chang added that TSMC tried multiple arrangements of American and foreign employees to staff its Oregon plant, but without much reduction in costs. "

double ouchs!

The original interview recording can be found here:

Can semiconductor manufacturing return to the US? Interview with Dr. Morris Chang - by Brookings Institution

Brookings Institution: Can semiconductor manufacturing return to the US?

semiwiki.com

 

[Scotten Jones]

Keep in mind that he is trying to frame this discussion and debate in the way that is most favorable to TSMC and what TSMC wants.

I remember when 300mm first started to ramp and he made a statement that only companies with something like $5 billion dollars in revenue would be able to afford 300mm fabs as a way to say TSMC would be alone in the foundry business with 300mm fabs. It was wrong when he said it and I would be shocked if he didn't know that.

The biggest cost issue in the US versus Taiwan was the incentives Taiwan used to give TSMC but most of those incentives don't exist anymore. Today the difference in costs is much smaller!