TSMC and Samsung, two giants in the semiconductor industry, were originally interested in the U.S. chip subsidy bill. After all, it's not just an investment opportunity, it's more like a golden key to open the door to the U.S. market. TSMC has announced that it will invest more than $40 billion to build factories in the United States, and Samsung is not far behind, planning to spend $17 billion in hopes of taking a piece of the US market.
However, when the U.S. government's subsidy conditions became public, both companies felt unprecedented pressure. The U.S. offer is not just an investment, but more like a claim for control of high technology. To receive subsidies, companies must share in excess profits and submit confidential information to the U.S. government. To make matters worse, the contract also comes with a restriction that chips cannot be produced in Chinese mainland for the next decade. This is tantamount to allowing TSMC and Samsung to set their own limits in front of the world's largest chip market, which has forced the two giants to reconsider their investment decisions.
China spends $300 billion a year on imported chips, a figure that is still huge even in 2022, when demand for chips is generally declining. China is not only a big buyer of chips, but also a sales market that cannot be ignored. In this case, any restriction on the Chinese market is tantamount to shooting yourself in the foot.
The harsh conditions in the United States are obviously aimed at slowing down China's development in the global semiconductor industry and buying time for local American companies to strengthen their technological accumulation. While this strategy makes sense from the U.S. perspective, it is a huge challenge for international companies like TSMC and Samsung. They need to find a balance between huge investments in the United States and the world's largest market.
Faced with pressure from the United States, TSMC and Samsung began to explore other options. TSMC said the U.S. conditions were unacceptable, while Samsung expressed similar dissatisfaction. Both companies are reconsidering their expansion plans in the U.S. while increasing investments in other regions, especially in their respective headquarters.
TSMC is expanding several factories in Taiwan, while Samsung plans to invest nearly 1.5 trillion yuan in South Korea to build the world's largest semiconductor production base. These actions not only show the dissatisfaction of the two companies with US policy, but also reflect their determination to reduce their dependence on the US market.
While the U.S. chip subsidy bill may seem to present an attractive opportunity for TSMC and Samsung, the high costs and harsh conditions that come with it also make the two giants feel constrained. In today's highly competitive global semiconductor market, the strategy of relying on a single market is no longer applicable.
In the future, TSMC and Samsung will have to be more flexible in adjusting their global strategies and leveraging the strengths of each region to balance risks. This adjustment of strategy is not only a response to current challenges, but also a foresight of future market changes. Ultimately, the choice of these two giants will have a profound impact on the global semiconductor industry landscape.
With the continuous advancement of chip technology and the changes in global market demand, only companies that continue to innovate and maintain open cooperation can remain competitive in the future. For TSMC and Samsung, the flexibility of their strategies and in-depth understanding of the global market will be the key to their success in meeting the current challenges.