Intel CEO Kissinger Whirlwind Visits Taiwan and TSMC may not be sincere

Intel CEO Pat Gelsinger recently visited Taiwan in a whirlwind style for 48 hours, setting off great waves. The Internet questioned him for criticizing Taiwan's instability while still making a special trip to Taiwan. "Dress up in blackface, dress up in whiteface, it's really American!"

The coordination of Taiwan's public relations system has slowed Kissinger's attitude

According to the investigation, Kissinger's 180-degree attitude change is the result of the efforts of Intel's Taiwan public relations system to coordinate, so that Kissinger has taken an important first step in change and is willing to adjust the external statement, which also highlights that Kissinger is a leader who takes the overall situation into consideration, will accept advice, he wants to bring LinkedIn Ter back to glory, and he cannot offend TSMC, which can help him achieve his task.

But from the pre-recorded film before Kissinger arrived, he also emphasized that the sake of supply chain balance is why he has recently continued to invest in Intel's global manufacturing network.

"Semiconductors are getting more attention today than ever before," he said. Without semiconductors, everything would stop working. To address chip shortages, factories must be built faster, operating at higher yields, installing more equipment, and taking into account the future balance of global supply chains. ”

Maintaining a balanced supply chain is more important than working with Taiwan

Kissinger believes that factories need to be built in diverse geographic areas, including in Taiwan and other key locations around the world.

Although he also said that Intel will continue to invest in Taiwan, while praising TSMC for helping Intel unlock the possibilities of wafers in many aspects and create unprecedented products, "what TSMC has done is really remarkable", and did not forget to emphasize that TSMC is Intel's longest and most far-reaching partner.

However, in this pre-recorded speech, he actually highlighted that maintaining the "balance" of the supply chain at this time is far more important than maintaining a long-term and far-reaching cooperative relationship with Taiwan.

Intel, which dominates the semiconductor industry, has long been not only a global leader in technology, but also a specification setter in the fields of personal computers and servers. Even if TSMC later surpassed it in 7nm technology, but most of TSMC is based on these advanced processes, for mobile phone chip manufacturers to provide wafer foundry services, although Intel in the field of mobile phone chips far behind the Arm (Arm) architecture camp, but in the server and personal computer side of the chip, it is still difficult to shake its leading position.

TSMC assists AMD in two areas of leading the way under pressure

TSMC is ahead of Intel in advanced processes and assists its rival Ultra Micro (AMD) in a rapid raid on personal computers, and now Intel is also feeling pressure in the server field.

Former Intel CEO Bob. Bob Swan, in order to reverse the disadvantage, intends to use TSMC's leading advantage in process technology to entrust the chips of some products to TSMC. What an honor for TSMC.

However, earlier TSMC founder Zhang Zhongmou revealed that Bob. Bob Swan's plan caused displeasure to Intel's board of directors, so he extended his 30-year stint at Intel and left Intel in the highest position as technical chief, and Hewlett B. Shi Wang handed over the chief executive, and the new personnel order took effect on February 15 this year. Kissinger also promised the chairman that he would return Intel to glory.

I am not happy to see Intel stab AMD Zhang Zhongmou is really angry

But Zhang Zhongmou recently stressed that Intel stipulates that 65 years old must retire, Kissinger is now 60 years old, he believes that Kissinger can not return Intel to glory in 5 years.

Intel has long been a customer of TSMC, Zhang Zhongmou when he was the chairman of TSMC, he never uttered bad words, but a few days ago he rekindled Kissinger's remarks, emphasizing that Kissinger is to win more subsidies from the US government to Intel, and will say bad things about TSMC everywhere, and it can also be seen that Zhang Zhongmou is really angry.

Unlike the quarrel, Zhang Zhongmou was angry for a reason, he vaguely revealed that he was not happy to see TSMC take advantage of TSMC's current leading process advantage, and then turn back to stab AMD, which has established long-term cooperation with TSMC in recent years, and even give Apple, which intends to enter the server, a sword.

Perhaps TSMC also intends to support Intel's production plan with 3 nanometers, and has made major adjustments in the capacity ranking, which will make Kissinger find that the situation is serious, rush to Taiwan, and negotiate cooperation with TSMC in 3nm production capacity, otherwise Intel announced that it will invest more than $7 billion in Malaysia, which will also be implicated.

Intel next-generation processors must look at TSMC's face

Therefore, this time Kissinger changed his mouth to praise TSMC, the assistance to Intel is really remarkable, and there is also a solution to the negative damage that was earlier considered to block TSMC's factory in the United States, after all, Intel still needs TSMC to assist in the smooth launch of the next generation of new processors.

However, semiconductor sources interpret that Kissinger essence still believes that in the future to help solve the chip shortage, Intel's importance should be better than TSMC. This has been repeatedly emphasized in interviews with television stations since Kissinger took office that Intel will play a role in stabilizing the supply of chips.

Therefore, in various countries to establish chip autonomy, Intel should not let run in front, but at a large level is also hoping to give priority to subsidies.

This time Kissinger rushed to Taiwan, although he emphasized that it is a long-term and far-reaching cooperative relationship with TSMC, but basically, he believes that maintaining the balance of the chip supply chain is still far more important than the far-reaching cooperative relationship with TSMC; in other words, priority is still in the priority of receiving subsidies from the US government and the European Union, Intel.

From Kissinger this whirlwind to Taiwan, it should still be to ensure the production capacity provided by TSMC. And it is expected to bring TSMC considerable orders.

Quite Taiwan's development of WiMAX Intel has a precedent for change

However, some people also reminded that in the past cases of Intel's cooperation with the supply key, Intel would often draw a big pie and encourage Taiwan factories to expand their factories in large quantities, but in the end they suddenly changed their minds.

Taiwan has developed WiMAX in the past, and Intel has also supported it, so that Acer and other upstream and downstream supply chain manufacturers have also shouted very loudly, and the government has also rushed to join the drumming, and as a result, Intel has not played in the battle, and the manufacturers who have invested later have also died.

Intel CEO Kissinger will rush to Malaysia after the whirlwind arrives. Photo/Intel provided

Intel is scheduled to hold a supplier online meeting on the 16th, but Kissinger will leave Taiwan today (15th) to fly to Malaysia, which shows that he came to Taiwan this time, which should be to negotiate a 3nm process cooperation plan with TSMC and finalize the production capacity supported by TSMC, so as to facilitate the smooth connection with Malaysia's packaging and testing plants, rather than other PC supply chains.

The Malaysian government has taken the lead in disclosing that Intel will increase investment of more than 7 billion US dollars to expand the production capacity of advanced packaging plants in Penang, Malaysia, and is scheduled to hold a press conference directly at the airport today (15th), in addition to Kissinger attended, Malaysian Trade Minister Azmin Ali and Malaysian Investment Development Authority Executive Director Arham Abdul Rahman and others will attend.

However, TSMC and Intel did not comment on who Kissinger came to Taiwan to meet and talk about yesterday, but it remains to be seen whether the follow-up two sides cooperate more than competition, or face each other in the field of wafer foundry.