TSMC ups Arizona investment from $12B to $40B with second semi fab
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Re: TSMC ups Arizona investment from $12B to $40B with second semi fab
#2It’s good news geopolitically, and the construction will produce a lot of jobs. But people should temper long-term job expectations.
This huge of an investment in a tech where TSMC will face competition from fabs in lower-cost countries almost certainly means the company believes it can use extensive automation to avoid having labor costs sink their ability to compete on price.
(Yes, there may be a window where they don’t have to compete on price, but you build fabs for 5-10 years of production)
Re: TSMC ups Arizona investment from $12B to $40B with second semi fab
#3Well that seems significant.
Article says the chips in the 2nd fabs will be better than the first. And will meet all domestic US demand. Not sure what all that includes.
I wonder how domestic the full supply chain is. If the US is relying on China for rare earth metals or something.
Re: TSMC ups Arizona investment from $12B to $40B with second semi fab
#4It’s good news geopolitically, and the construction will produce a lot of jobs. But people should temper long-term job expectations. This huge of an investment in a tech where TSMC will face competition from fabs in lower-cost countries almost certainly means the company believes it can use extensive automation to avoid having labor costs sink their ability to compete on price. (Yes, there may be a window where they…
> It’s good news geopolitically
I actually think the opposite. It will be good for global supply chains but not geopolitics, because it reduces the reliance on Taiwan thus opening it up for assimilation.
Re: TSMC ups Arizona investment from $12B to $40B with second semi fab
#5It’s good news geopolitically, and the construction will produce a lot of jobs. But people should temper long-term job expectations. This huge of an investment in a tech where TSMC will face competition from fabs in lower-cost countries almost certainly means the company believes it can use extensive automation to avoid having labor costs sink their ability to compete on price. (Yes, there may be a window where they…
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Re: TSMC ups Arizona investment from $12B to $40B with second semi fab
#6It’s good news geopolitically, and the construction will produce a lot of jobs. But people should temper long-term job expectations. This huge of an investment in a tech where TSMC will face competition from fabs in lower-cost countries almost certainly means the company believes it can use extensive automation to avoid having labor costs sink their ability to compete on price. (Yes, there may be a window where they…
> It’s good news geopolitically I actually think the opposite. It will be good for global supply chains but not geopolitics, because it reduces the reliance on Taiwan thus opening it up for assimilation.
That fab will not be even 1% of US semiconductor consumption.
And it will come to a halt within weeks if consumables will stop coming from Taiwan.
Re: TSMC ups Arizona investment from $12B to $40B with second semi fab
#7It’s good news geopolitically, and the construction will produce a lot of jobs. But people should temper long-term job expectations. This huge of an investment in a tech where TSMC will face competition from fabs in lower-cost countries almost certainly means the company believes it can use extensive automation to avoid having labor costs sink their ability to compete on price. (Yes, there may be a window where they…
> It’s good news geopolitically I actually think the opposite. It will be good for global supply chains but not geopolitics, because it reduces the reliance on Taiwan thus opening it up for assimilation.
Nope. Chips clearly have a national security component. Ensuring local supply reinforces national security. Which reinforces geopolitical commitments through making those commitments more credible.
Edit-removed a comment
Re: TSMC ups Arizona investment from $12B to $40B with second semi fab
#8I've been trying to build a habit lately of finding the primary source of news like this, especially since news agencies seem to be very hit or miss with whether they link to their primary source.
So for whoever is interested, this is the original announcement by TSMC themselves: https://pr.tsmc.com/english/news/2977
Re: TSMC ups Arizona investment from $12B to $40B with second semi fab
#9Earlier quoted context omitted.
> It’s good news geopolitically I actually think the opposite. It will be good for global supply chains but not geopolitics, because it reduces the reliance on Taiwan thus opening it up for assimilation.
Nope. Chips clearly have a national security component. Ensuring local supply reinforces national security. Which reinforces geopolitical commitments through making those commitments more credible. Edit-removed a comment
The geo in geopolitics means the whole planet, not just the USA. Destabilizing Taiwan could have major effects
Re: TSMC ups Arizona investment from $12B to $40B with second semi fab
#10Well that seems significant. Article says the chips in the 2nd fabs will be better than the first. And will meet all domestic US demand. Not sure what all that includes. I wonder how domestic the full supply chain is. If the US is relying on China for rare earth metals or something.
The US has rare earth mines and even more deposits. They just got priced out through decades of lower prices for those minerals. (Which just shows that resource allocation even for scarce resources, follows financial incentives similar to other financial considerations. Stuff being left in the ground actually makes them available for another day when they’re higher valued.)