Wafer foundries opening all over the world will bring major challenges : Analyst

As countries continue to strengthen the transfer of semiconductor supply chains to the local area, wafer foundries have sprung up everywhere, and the opening of new production capacity is bound to have an impact on semiconductor supply and demand. 

In this regard, all parties in the industry have different views. According to reports, analysts pointed out that the transfer of the semiconductor supply chain will bring three major challenges to the industry.

Join tip3x on Telegram

One is oversupply. New production capacity will be launched in large quantities in 2024. Recently, it has been reported in the industry that most chips are no longer in short supply, and the decline in demand for terminal products such as NB and PC is a foregone conclusion.

Next, we must pay attention to whether new applications such as automotive, Internet of Things and HPC are Explosive growth as expected.

The second is cost pressure. It is understood that the reason for the repeated delays in the entry of TSMC’s US factory equipment is that the cost of building the factory is too high, and another “large-scale expansion company” UMC has previously been burdened with hundreds of billions of depreciation and amortization costs due to excessive investment. Now it is going overseas.

To set up a factory, despite receiving government subsidies, based on previous experience, the depreciation pressure is probably not small.

The third is cultural integration. Due to the differences in talent, employment environment, and culture in different places, manufacturers may be “unaccustomed to the environment” when they go overseas to build factories.

For example, TSMC’s US factories have encountered recruitment problems caused by academic qualifications. In addition, the factory requires a large number of high-tech personnel to take care of the machines in shifts. Whether local employees can adapt, and cultural differences are all difficult problems.

(VIA)