Tsai Lixing, chief executive of Taiwanese smartphone chip designer MediaTek (2454-TW), said over the weekend that tensions between the United States and China are prompting some manufacturers to discuss moving some supply chains out of Taiwan, but it is an "incremental" process that does not There are signs of large-scale transfer orders.
In an exclusive interview with Reuters, Cai Lixing said: "Some very large (equipment manufacturers) will require chip suppliers to have multiple sources, such as from Taiwan, the United States, or from Germany, Europe. I think in this case, if The business needs it, and we will have to find multiple sources for the same chip.”
This has happened, he said, but on a small scale. Cai Lixing and other executives were interviewed by Reuters on the sidelines of MediaTek's media and analyst event in Sonoma Valley, California's wine-producing region, on Friday (11th).
MediaTek has been pushing the US business. Cai Lixing said the goal was to double or triple sales, but he did not offer a timetable.
While MediaTek's most advanced smartphone chips are made by TSMC (2330-TW), Cai Lixing said some older phone chips are made by GlobalFoundries (GFS-US). GF has factories in the United States, Singapore and other places.
At the end of July this year, Intel (INTC-US) also announced that it has reached a foundry agreement with MediaTek, and will use its "Intel 16" process to produce a variety of smart device chips for MediaTek.
Cai Lixing said that the "Intel 16" process is very suitable for the production of MediaTek's smart TV and Wi-Fi chips. He also said that from the second half of 2024, its chips will be foundry by Intel Ireland.
He said that if TSMC's Arizona factory goes into production, MediaTek will also produce chips at the new factory. However, he also warned that it is unrealistic for the chip industry to completely leave Taiwan, which is still the most important advanced chip manufacturing base in the world.