A hot potato: TSMC has repeatedly stated that funding a new chip-making enterprise outside Taiwan is very expensive for many reasons. However, a new analysis tries to debate the company’s alleged financial issues with the manufacture of new plants in other parts of the world.
What is the cost of TSMC to start its new chip-making plants on US soil? According to a new study by Techinsights, the total amount is nowhere to the financial requirements stated by the Taiwanese Corporation. In addition, the processing of silicone wafers in the US is slightly more expensive than Asia, according to the study.
TSMC recently confirmed that it would invest hundreds of billions of dollars in its new American venture, with a special attention to Arizona. The company said that the construction of new semiconductor plants in the US will take twice long and will spend double to meet the same goal in its homeland. TSMC was also accused of “selling” his business by Chinese authorities to support Trump on geopolitical issues in Trump’s field.
Techinsights crucified some numbers about TSMC through the strategic cost and price model of their semiconductor manufacturing Economics, which is wide enough to consider individual equipment and process stages. The model confirmed that TSMC needs to spend only 10 percent more to process the 300 mm chip wafer in Arizona than Taiwan.
Direct and indirect labor expenses either do not distinguish a lot. The cost of employees in the US is 200 percent higher, TI said, but many people are not required to start with a modern, completely automated chip construction plant. Analysts said the labor cost is only 2 percent of the entire trade expenses.
The most important factor in setting up a new plant comes from the real devices required for “ETCH” microchips with complex lighting and chemical processes. Chipmaking machines sold by ASML, Tokyo Electron, and some other corporations of Europe will be responsible for more than two-thirds of wafer costs, but they hold the same selling price in both the US and Taiwan.
TSMC knows more about its internal costs than someone else, and it is difficult to compare apple-to-apple while dealing with indirect information. Despite these issues, TI said that its model could provide a “fixed” answer that Taiwan’s foundry would have to spend on the chips made in the USA. ” The company plans to charge 30 percent premium on these chips, anyway.
