Major Taiwanese news network China Times recently reported that Morris Chang, Chairman of TSMC (Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company), gave a speech at a think tank conference. He expressed the view that China’s semiconductor industry is still far behind Taiwan while South Korea’s Samsung is a strong competitor. TSMC is currently the world’s most valuable semiconductor manufacturer. Chang thinks Mainland China is still over five years behind, even with tens of billions of dollars in government subsidies. Chang said that Taiwan has three competitive advantages. One is a large talent pool in the semiconductor area. Even the United State cannot compare. The second is that all levels of managers are from Taiwan. The third advantage is Taiwan’s advanced high-speed railway system and freeway system, which are suitable for large-scale manufacturing personnel movements. TSMC has three major manufacturing centers across Taiwan and thousands of engineers can be mobilized without moving their homes. TSMC has started investments in the United States. However, Chang has some reservation about the popularity of the manufacturing industry in the U.S. as well as the loyalty of U.S. engineers.
Source: China Times, April 22, 2021
https://www.chinatimes.com/cn/newspapers/20210422000563-260102?chdtv