A hot potato: TSMC has repeatedly said that funding a new chip-making venture outside Taiwan is very expensive for numerous reasons. However, a new analysis tries to debunk the company's alleged financial issues with building new plants in other parts of the world.
How much does it cost TSMC to start up its new chip-manufacturing plants on US soil? According to a new study by TechInsights, the total amount is nowhere near the financial requirements stated by the Taiwanese corporation. Furthermore, processing silicon wafers in the US is just slightly more expensive than in Asia, according to the study.
TSMC recently confirmed that it will invest hundreds of billions of dollars into its new US venture, with a particular focus on Arizona. The company stated that building new semiconductor plants in the US will take twice as long and cost twice as much as accomplishing the same goal in its homeland. TSMC was also accused by Chinese authorities of "selling off" its business to Washington to try and win Trump's backing over the geopolitical issues in the area.
TechInsights crunched some numbers about TSMC through its Semiconductor Manufacturing Economics' Strategic Cost and Price Model, which is detailed enough to consider individual tools and process steps. The model confirmed that TSMC needs to spend just 10 percent more to process a 300mm chip wafer in Arizona than in Taiwan.
Direct and indirect labor expenses don't make much of a difference either. Employees do cost 200 percent more in the US, TI said, but a modern, fully automated chip manufacturing plant doesn't need many people to begin with. Labor cost is just 2 percent of the whole business expenses, the analysts said.
The single most important factor in setting a new plant up comes from the actual equipment required to "etch" microchips with complex light and chemical processes. Chipmaking machines sold by Europe's ASML, Tokyo Electron, and a few other corporations would account for over two-thirds of wafer cost, but they do tend to have the same sale price both in the US and Taiwan.
TSMC knows more about its internal costs than anyone else, and making apples-to-apples comparisons is difficult when dealing with indirect information. Despite these issues, TI said its model can provide a "definitive" answer to how much the Taiwanese foundry will have to spend on chips "made in the USA." The company is seemingly planning to charge a 30 percent premium on these chips, anyway.
TSMC spends just 10% more on silicon wafers manufactured in the USA than in Taiwan fabs
