Chairman of TSMC: I don’t want to lose China…

TSMC’s customers include Huawei’s chip division HiSilicon, but the United States has put Huawei on the “blacklist” due to so-called “security concerns” and trade disputes with China, making the world’s largest chip foundry seem to be in a crack. middle.

Last month, TSMC announced its plan to invest US$12 billion to build a factory in the United States. A few hours later, the US Department of Commerce put forward a proposal to modify chip export rules, which would restrict TSMC’s sales to Huawei.

According to the new regulations, foreign companies using American semiconductor manufacturing equipment must first obtain a US license when supplying certain chips to affiliates such as Huawei or HiSilicon.

Huawei is the world’s largest supplier of telecommunications equipment and the second largest smartphone manufacturer.

According to Reuters, when asked at the annual shareholder meeting whether TSMC can fill the order gap left by HiSilicon if the amendment is passed, TSMC Chairman Mark Liu said, “We hope that this situation will not will happen”.

“But if this is the case, we will fill it in a very short time.” He said in the northern city of Hsinchu, Taiwan, where TSMC’s headquarters are located.

“For me, it’s hard to predict how quickly it will fill up.”

Liu Deyin said that TSMC is observing the implementation of the new regulations and is “still studying” what they mean to the company. He said that TSMC does not rule out the possibility of applying for an exemption.

Analysts estimate that about 60% of TSMC’s revenue comes from the United States and 20% comes from China.

According to a report previously released by IC Insights, TSMC’s sales in the first quarter surged 45% to 10.3 billion U.S. dollars, largely due to the surge in 7nm application processors sold to Apple and Huawei. Last year, HiSilicon and Apple together accounted for 37% of TSMC’s total sales.

TSMC is not the only company affected by tensions between China and the United States, Liu Deyin said.

“Don’t worry. We will find a solution,” he said in response to concerns that shareholder TSMC might be affected by this. “We will overcome the challenges one by one.”

Liu Deyin said that TSMC’s investment plan in the United States is “absolutely in line with” the company’s interests and will help the company win the trust of customers and expand its talent pool.

He said that TSMC is still negotiating with the US government on subsidies for new factories to make up for the cost difference between Taiwan and the US. Although the factory will not deal directly with the military, some customers may be military suppliers.

Liu Deyin is optimistic about the overall demand for technology, even though the coronavirus outbreak has severely hit the global economy.

“Everyone can see that iPhone sales are still pretty good.”