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TSMC dossier
DIGITIMES Asia president Colley Hwang offers insights into TSMC's development and competiveness in a 10-part series.
IN THE NEWS
Wednesday 21 July 2021
TSMC dossier (10): Prepare for rainy days and never slack off
According to the ancient Chinese thinker Zhuangzi, persistence on building up competence over time is the only way to earn people's trust. Taiwan, with a small population of less...
Tuesday 20 July 2021
TSMC dossier (9): New frontier of customer relation
Many years ago, a friend of mine in the industry told me a joke about customer relationships in the foundry sector. He said that UMC took good care of customers and would actively...
Monday 19 July 2021
TSMC dossier (8): Can China establish leadership in semiconductor sector?
China imported more semiconductor chips than oil for the first time in 2013. According to BCG, China imported US$350 billion worth of semiconductor chips in 2020, which represented...
Friday 16 July 2021
TSMC dossier (7): Is Samsung a real challenger?
The reason why I am so optimistic about the competition between TSMC and Samsung is that neither quantum technology nor in-memory computing will dictate the outcome before 2025. Even...
Thursday 15 July 2021
TSMC dossier (6): Possible ways to defeat the world's top foundry house
I tried to work out some scenarios where TSMC could be defeated, the first being throwing in it into a state of panic. The semiconductor fabrication industry is highly connected with...
Wednesday 14 July 2021
TSMC dossier (5): The winning formula
TSMC's capital expenditure exceeded US$10 billion for the first time in 2016. If TSMC further increases its capex and it drives investments into peripheral businesses and attracts...
Tuesday 13 July 2021
TSMC dossier (4): Technology contention among world-class leaders
Intel claims that TSMC's 7nm process is the equivalent of Intel's 10nm process. This may be true in terms of tech specs but Intel hasn't really outraced still TSMC. Samsung, on several...
Monday 12 July 2021
TSMC dossier (3): Tech leadership and aggressive investment
For the past few years, TSMC has consistently allocated around 8% of its revenue toward R&D. At the first glance, 8% may not seem like a large sum. However, TSMC generates a foundry...
Friday 9 July 2021
TSMC dossier (2): The 3 phases of transformation
Since its founding in 1987, TSMC has undergone three phases of development. The first phase saw it stress its position as a pure-play foundry. Like most other companies in Taiwan,...
Thursday 8 July 2021
TSMC dossier (1): 3 pillars to foundry's competitiveness - process technology, customer relationship and industry ecosystem
Mainstream media including Wall Street Journal and the CEO of TSMC's rival GlobalFoundries have all pointed out that having TSMC manufacture a majority of semiconductor chips...