The semiconductor industry faces significant challenges in the United States, with critics of the CHIPS initiative arguing that the country lacks a skilled semiconductor workforce, a situation exacerbated by the industry's previous decision to move operations abroad. TSMC's struggles to establish a competitive semiconductor manufacturing operation in Portland, Oregon, over the past 25 years, alongside its planned facility in Phoenix, are cited as examples of the difficulties faced. Additionally, South Korean conglomerates including Samsung, LG, and SK have paused their construction projects in the U.S. due to rising costs and uncertainties regarding subsidies ahead of the presidential election. This includes Samsung's $17 billion chip fabrication plant in Taylor, Texas, which might require as much as $8 billion more. The U.S. is recognized for its chip design capabilities, but lacks the workforce for manufacturing, a gap that subsidies for new fabrication plants (fabs) are unlikely to fill. The CHIPS Act, intended to fund domestic semiconductor manufacturing, is criticized for being laden with unnecessary expenditures, deterring chipmakers from building fabs in the U.S. The situation contrasts sharply with TSMC's operations in Japan, where a different approach to high-tech investment has allowed for more timely progress.
A Tale of Two Chip Plants: Delayed in U.S., On Time in Japan—The fate of two TSMC factories highlights different approaches toward high-tech investment. “There’s something of a culture of speed in Asia.” @LandersWSJ @yoyominnie https://t.co/8lrSz4uMXz
The two TSMC chip factories, one being built in Japan and the other in the U.S., highlight different approaches in Tokyo and Washington toward high-tech investment https://t.co/kniIsqEkLy https://t.co/kniIsqEkLy
https://t.co/wX64nDsVZ6 The title's more culture-war-y than I like, but the article is good. The CHIPS Act was meant to fund US domestic semiconductor manufacturing. But it's so loaded with pork that chipmakers are giving up on actually building fabs here.
US re-industrialisation update: Samsung, LG, SK, all in the process of building semiconductors and battery factories in the US, "suspend US construction projects" amid labor and construction costs "rising at alarming pace". https://t.co/rtO54zwIQq - Samsung was in the process of…
The US doesn't have the skilled labor. A record number of construction jobs are unfilled. That's why the cost of new industrial building has jumped -- and why Korean chipmakers are stopping their projects in the US. https://t.co/cLblNQL5B6
"Samsung, LG and SK are concerned about their investments in the United States amid a spike in construction costs and lingering subsidy uncertainties ahead of the upcoming presidential election in the world’s largest economy..." https://t.co/LCmqVhh62v
While US workers are skilled in chip design, the country lacks workers who want to work in, or have the skills necessary for, chip manufacturing. Subsidies to set up new fabs will not change that, warn Chang-Tai Hsieh, et al. https://t.co/Nnmyvp3PWx
South Korean conglomerates Samsung, LG, and SK, have suspended USA construction projects amid soaring costs and subsidy uncertainties ahead of the presidential election, media report, including Samsung’s US$17 billion chip fab in Taylor, Texas, which might require as much as $8…
TSMC’s experience trying to set up a competitive semiconductor manufacturing operation in Portland, Oregon, over the last 25 years shows why its planned Phoenix facility is doomed to fail, write Chang-Tai Hsieh, et al. https://t.co/lKnEYvbNSW
CHIPS critics say it won't work because U.S. lacks a semiconductor workforce. This is circular. U.S. lost that workforce because industry expatriated itself. How do you bring that workforce back if TSMC et al don't start building in U.S.? https://t.co/jLurfCPcic