Source：Bloomberg
TSMC denies tie-up in prospect with struggling U.S. group Intel
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC), the world's largest chipmaker, has denied reports of a tie-up with its ailing U.S. rival Intel.Talks have been reported over the past two months on a potential deal for TSMC to take a minority stake in Intel and help the U.S. chipmaker run its fabrication plants, or fabs, which have for years failed to catch up with the Taiwanese market leader’s technology.
TSMC CEO CC Wei told investors on Thursday that TSMC was “not engaged in any discussion with other companies regarding any joint venture, technology licensing, or technology transfer and sharing.” People familiar with the situation said any attempt to have the contract chipmaker transform Intel fabs so they would match its own would take many years and could cost even more than building new ones.
The Intel proposal was part of the massive disruption that the Trump administration’s tariff and industrial policy moves are bringing to the technology industry.
On Thursday, TSMC maintained its bullish forecast of close to 25% growth this year, driven by booming artificial intelligence chip revenue, but warned that U.S. trade policy would further dilute profit margins and could damage demand.
Once the dominant chipmaker in the U.S., Intel has faced numerous challenges in recent years, losing ground to players like Nvidia, AMD, Qualcomm, and Apple.
