From "a small dot on the radar" to "a fearsome opponent", Zhang Zhongmou has always kept in mind the pain that Samsung brought to TSMC that year.
At the 2015 TSMC Investment Conference, TSMC founder Zhang Zhongmou publicly stated that TSMC's 16nm FinFET process was not going well and would lose to its old rival Samsung. As soon as the news came out, large customers, including Apple and Qualcomm, turned to Samsung's 14nm FinFET process, and TSMC ushered in the "darkest moment".
Yes, the Samsung foundry that is now sprayed by various kinds of sprays was the existence of the sun in the sky; now the TSMC, which is praised by various kinds, was also a backward enterprise that was pressed on the ground and rubbed in that year.
The charm of the technology industry lies in this, and changes in the market pattern may occur overnight.
In 2012, 2013 and 2014, Samsung's annual semiconductor R&D investment reached almost twice that of TSMC in the same period, which was also the strongest period of Samsung Semiconductor, and the key person who helped Samsung defeat TSMC was an industry big name recruited by Samsung in 2011: Liang Mengsong.
Samsung was originally a "gambling" company, unexpectedly, Liang Mengsong than Samsung dare to gamble, the first thing he did after he came to power, is to give up the research and development of the 20nm process, directly jump several levels, preside over the development of Samsung 14nm process.
Although this seems to be a huge gamble regardless of cost, in the final analysis, it is Liang Mengsong's own absolute technical confidence.
In 2014, Samsung took the lead in launching the 14nm process, relying on the leading edge, directly snatched 80% of the orders from TSMC, and Liang Mengsong was also regarded as the "number one traitor" by TSMC.
Subsequently, TSMC launched a legal battle, forcing Liang Mengsong to leave Samsung in 2015.
Coincidentally, it is also from then on that Samsung FOUNDRY chip has problems in performance and energy consumption, and in the same year, it triggered the "chip door" incident of iPhone6s, and the market reputation of Samsung FOUNDC chips began to decline.
The reason is that the crux of Samsung Semiconductor's problem is still in talent.
In fact, since 2017, the global competition for Korean semiconductor talents has entered a white-hot situation, such as Chinese companies in order to introduce Korean semiconductor talents, at the expense of several times the salary to dig people; including the United States, which is about to invest heavily in semiconductor construction, has also set its sights on Korean semiconductor engineers.
Talent drain has become a fundamental problem hindering the development of South Korea's semiconductor industry.
So in an effort to stem the brain drain, South Korea was exposed in February this year, building a state-level database of chip engineers to track their travel activities and discourage foreign companies from poaching.
In contrast, Zhang Zhongmou has a lot of experience in retaining talents, in addition to giving absolutely favorable welfare benefits, TSMC has also made employees believe in the future development of the company, love their work more, and pay attention to the physical and mental health of employees.
Therefore, the essence of the competition in the semiconductor industry is still the competition of talents and the competition of brain power. Today, the problems encountered by Samsung Semiconductor are, to some extent, rooted in the dilemma of Korean semiconductor talents.