2021 BRN Discussion, page-25465

Good to see that TMSC (and Taiwan) are taking the necessary steps to ensure that production is not affected by current events.

Peace crucial to chip supply: economics minister

· Bloomberg

· Tue, Oct 05, 2021

Below is an extract of a fairly large article.

Peacein the Taiwan Strait is key to Taiwan’s ability to ensure a continuous supplyof the chips needed to power a wide range of products from vehicles tosmartphones, Minister of Economic Affairs Wang Mei-hua (王美花) said.

Taipei is seeking to rally political support as China ramps up its aggression toward Taiwan. Chinese warplanes made a record 93 flights close to Taiwan over a three-day period starting on Friday, prompting the US Department of State to express concern and urge China to cease its “provocative” actions.

“Taiwan has helped foster a great chip manufacturing ecosystem with three decades of efforts against the backdrop of globalization,” Wang said in an interview on Friday last week. “The global community should take Taiwan’s security more seriously so Taiwan can continue to provide stable service to everyone and be a very good partner to everyone.”

Taiwanese chipmakers are already doing their part to alleviate shortages plaguing the global automotive industry, she said, with TSMC boosting output of automotive microcontrollers by 60 percent from last year. It is also spending US$100 billion to expand manufacturing over three years.

TSMC produces a significant portion of the semiconductors needed by major auto chip suppliers such as Infineon Technologies AG, NXP Semiconductors NV and Japan’s Renesas Electronics Corp, companies that automakers around the world depend on for essential electronic components for their vehicles.

To mitigate US national security concerns, TSMC is building a US$12 billion plant in Arizona with the goal of starting production by 2024. The company is also considering building a fab in Japan and studying the feasibility of a creating a plant in Germany. It is also adding capacity in a fab in Nanjing, China.