The United States has invested heavily in the $39 billion "CHIPS Act", semiconductor giants have implemented their investment plans, and a battle for capacity expansion is burning in Silicon Valley that will last for several years.
Who will have the last laugh? This is not only about high-tech hegemony, but also about the lifeblood of the US economy.
You think that advanced chips are enough? Big mistake! Basic chip inventory is also very important. Automotive, defense, and medical manufacturing are all heavily reliant on this. Once the chip shortage hits, it is inevitable that the production of civilian electronic products such as smartphones and home appliances will be stopped.
The Silicon Valley giants are aware of this significant impact and are all betting heavily. Huge sums of money are not child's play to invest in the construction of new factories.
Intel has allocated up to $20 billion to build two chip factories in Ohio, vowing to bring the most advanced process technology to the United States. Intel CEO Pat Kilsinger bluntly said: "This factory will soon drive the next wave of semiconductor manufacturing and reshape the American wafer manufacturing industry." "
TSMC, known as the "wafer foundry giant", is not to be outdone, and will build a 5-nanometer chip factory in Arizona, which will land in the United States for the first time to produce the most advanced chip product line, with an annual investment of up to an astonishing $40 billion!
In addition to Intel and TSMC, other Silicon Valley technology giants have also invested heavily in layout. AMD, Nvidia, Qualcomm, Apple and others have all signed long-term supply agreements with TSMC to ensure the supply of key chips in the coming years.
Concerns about short supply have been looming over the industry, and competition among semiconductor giants has intensified as a result. The United States intends to revitalize the semiconductor industry with a national system, and does not hesitate to pay high subsidies and tax incentives to TSMC, Samsung, Intel and other companies, just to establish a silicon forest in Silicon Valley again.
This is by no means a decision made by the United States on the basis of wishful thinking. In fact, in the past few years, the semiconductor manufacturing industry at home and abroad has been reshuffled and reorganized. In 2020, the epidemic raged around the world, and the supply chain was once tight, which put some traditional Silicon Valley chipmakers in an embarrassment. Then, the Russia-Ukraine conflict in 2022 once again exacerbated geopolitical risks, making Silicon Valley in the United States dare not rely entirely on Asian supply.
In this context, the "CHIPS Act" came into being and became a trump card for the United States to fight back. By allocating tens of billions of dollars in subsidies, it intends to attract semiconductor manufacturers to invest in expanding production capacity in the United States, and reverse the situation of passive coercion in one fell swoop.
The results are immediate. Industry leaders such as Intel, TSMC, and Samsung have increased their investment in the United States, and new factories have sprung up. Data shows that in the next 10 years, the U.S. chip industry will add a total of $327 billion in capacity investment, and the number of electronic computing equipment production line factories will also increase by as much as 15 times. By 2030, the U.S. will be self-sufficient to meet 20% of its advanced chip needs.
To completely realize the "independent and controllable" chip industry, it is by no means an overnight effort. After all, at present, the overall chip demand in the United States still accounts for more than 25% of the world's total, and there is a big gap between it and domestic production capacity. To cure the haze once and for all, the chip production capacity in the United States undoubtedly needs to be further greatly improved.
Although there is still a long way to go, the United States has already won half of the battle. Through the joint efforts of the political and business circles, the chipmakers have successfully regained the confidence to invest in the United States. In the next few years, the United States will surely become the biggest winner and focus of the global semiconductor industry.
Although the situation is getting better, the smoke of Silicon Valley has not gone away. Semiconductor manufacturing is a never-ending marathon, and no one wants to lose to their opponents. Intel, TSMC, and Samsung are afraid that they will fall into a protracted shadow boxing, and the fights will be protracted.
Intel is arguably the most important chess piece of the United States. As the world's second-largest semiconductor manufacturer, Intel has indeed fallen into decline in the past few years, being overtaken by Asian players such as TSMC and Samsung. However, under the heavy subsidy of the "CHIPS Act", Intel is now reinvigorated.
In addition to building two new factories in Ohio at a cost of $20 billion, Intel also announced that it will invest billions of dollars in Arizona to produce advanced chips for AI and data centers. For the next few years, Intel is even more blunt that it will produce the world's most advanced chips, vowing to "Intel to rebuild wafer production capacity for the United States"!
Although Intel is slamming forward today, it will not be easy to defeat old rival TSMC. After all, in the field of global wafer foundry, TSMC is undoubtedly the well-deserved "number one player". It not only monopolizes the vast majority of orders for mobile phone chips, but also firmly controls the manufacturing of desktop and server chips.
This time, TSMC also smashed a lot in the United States, spending $40 billion to build a new 5-nanometer chip factory in Arizona, which is scheduled to start mass production in 2024. In the next few years, TSMC's influence in the United States will obviously climb.
As for Samsung, the South Korean semiconductor giant, although it is slightly inferior to TSMC in terms of advanced processes, it is far ahead in the field of memory chips. Samsung has launched a plan to invest $17.5 billion in a new chip factory in Texas in 2022, and its memory chip production capacity in the United States will continue to grow in the coming years.
Under the attack of these chip manufacturers, Intel does face a lot of challenges. However, even if it loses its leading position in the foundry field, Intel will never give up. With its advantages in the field of AI chips and the growing data center chip market, Intel has every opportunity to fight back and finally regain the semiconductor throne.
Of course, this is just competition within them. Regardless of whether they win or lose, the United States will reap the benefits of the fisherman, and China on the other side of the ocean is their real opponent.