Technology

TSMC founder Chang says that the U.S. has the world’s best chip designers

By Nick Heyman

In theory, the lower this process node number goes, the smaller the transistors used in these chips become. That allows chip designers and manufacturers to put more transistors in these integrated circuits allowing them to be faster and/or more power-efficient.

The U.S., concerned about geopolitical events putting a crimp in the supply chain for chips (especially the possibility of China making a move on Taiwan) would love to become self-sufficient in the design and production of chips. Design is actually not an issue as U.S. firms like Apple, Qualcomm, Intel, and others have no problem designing chips (more on this later). But building a foundry takes oodles of money and time. It also requires proximity to a reliable supply chain.
TSMC is working with the U.S. to build a fab (a plant that manufacturers chips) in Arizona. The facility should start producing chips by 2024 although production will reportedly be limited at first to 5nm chips which will have been replaced by the 3nm process node by the time the fab starts running in the states.

But TSMC founder Morris Chang considers the U.S. attempt to be relevant in chip manufacturing to be “a wasteful, expensive exercise in futility.” According to The Register, Morris spoke as a guest of the Brookings Institution think tank and stated that the U.S. does not have the talent pool necessary to create a thriving business in the states manufacturing chips.

Chang cited Taiwan’s large population that helped TSMC become the world’s top independent foundry. While the U.S. moved away from producing manufacturing professionals, Taiwan was loaded with talent. As we mentioned earlier in this story, where the U.S. does have the talent is in chip design, something that Morris isn’t shy about saying.

The 90-year-old Chang has high praise for the chip design talent in the U.S. calling it “the best in the world.” He adds that “Taiwan has very little design talent, and TSMC has absolutely none.” As an independent foundry, TSMC wouldn’t be expected to produce its own designs since its job is to produce chips designed by other companies like Apple, Qualcomm, MediaTek, and more.

Talking about the costs of running a fab in the U.S., Chang says that the small plant in Oregon that TSMC has run for 25 years is making money but not enough to justify expanding the facility. “We were extremely naive,” said Chang, “in expecting comparable costs, but manufacturing chips in the US is 50 percent more expensive than in Taiwan.”

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Nick Heyman