Zhang Zhongmou: Intel CEO Kissinger is a talent, but local manufacturing of american semiconductors will not succeed

According to the Taiwan Economic Daily news on October 27, TSMC founder Zhang Zhongmou was invited to attend the "Taiwan Yushan Science and Technology 20th Anniversary Celebration Conference and Forum" yesterday, and made a speech entitled "Learning and Growth of Operators" and accepted questions from some guests.

For the current U.S., Japanese, and European governments are promoting the localization of semiconductor manufacturing through subsidies, Zhang Zhongmou said that in the past, globalization and free trade have brought developed growth to the world, but the current world is not flat, some people say that Taiwan and South Korea are not safe, and some (semiconductor manufacturing) production capacity is needed in the United States, whether it is through the establishment of some production capacity or nearby ownership, but this will be a challenge to the world, Asian semiconductor factories and even Intel.

Zhang Zhongmou said that the market share of semiconductor manufacturing in the United States in the past was as high as 42%, and now it has dropped to 17%, and the US government actively promotes local manufacturing of semiconductors, hoping to make the market share of semiconductor manufacturing pick up. He believes that the US supply chain is incomplete and the production cost is high, and the local manufacturing of US semiconductors is unlikely to succeed.

As for Intel's development of wafer foundry business and active advocacy of the US government subsidies to semiconductor factories headquartered in the United States, Zhang Zhongmou said that Intel's motivation is to target US government subsidies, but this is a challenge for semiconductor factories in Asia and even the world.

Although it has now been seen that the United States wants to increase the proportion of semiconductor manufacturing and has introduced a $52 billion subsidy policy, in his view, "this is definitely not enough."

He believes that the relevant policies "will not make the clock swing back", because the amount of follow-up investment is definitely not enough, and more subsidies are required, but the cost of the supply chain of such investment and the cost of taxpayers will be considerable.

However, Zhang Zhongmou also believes that Intel's new CEO Kissinger is a talent.

Zhang Zhongmou said, "I know every Intel CEO, including this guy (Kissinger)",

Zhang Zhongmou revealed, "In 2015, Kissinger was not at Intel, but when he was working at VMware, he came to me and said that he came to see me after Intel went from 18 to 48 years old, and I met him, first asked him what VMware company he was, and explained it clearly in 15 minutes, I felt that he was a talent." ”

Zhang Zhongmou said that the technical background should continue to improve, in the science and technology industry as the CEO is best or technical background, now Intel suddenly found this truth, the current new CEO in February this year only took office for more than half a year, (when I met each other) Although I did not go to college, but a technical person.

Although Intel's stock price has recently fallen sharply due to poor financial outlook, Zhang Zhongmou humorously pointed out, "Five years ago this guy (Kissinger) was a bit rude, and now he is also very rude to TSMC. ”

At present, TSMC's new plant in Arizona is in full swing, and the outside world is paying attention to the test of the company's management team's transnational management. Zhang Zhongmou pointed out that in his past years, it was impossible for Taiwanese to manage across borders, so when he served at Texas Instruments (TI), he also thought that the United States was the center of the management of the world.

Today, Taiwanese managers are not as smooth as Intel managers managing the Arizona plant, but Taiwan's semiconductor industry remains globally competitive, especially as it continues to operate on Taiwan and in a free-trade scenario.

In the face of the recent global semiconductor chip shortage, Zhang Zhongmou said bluntly that he cannot see when semiconductors will not be out of stock, but he believes that it will eventually ease.

Zhang Zhongmou stressed that TSMC's business model is based on who the customer is (not what the product is), TSMC's business model is semiconductor manufacturing services, and the customer is another semiconductor company. At a time when global geopolitical risks are increasing, but the demand for semiconductors is increasing, two years ago when he was at the TSMC Games, he said that TSMC is a place where soldiers must fight, and it still seems to be the same, and it will become more and more important.

Zhang Zhongmou also shared his personal practical experience yesterday, and the learning and application of operators include 11 items, including basic technology, commodities and customer products, marketing, marketing and marketing, accounting, pricing, persuasive briefings, listening, inclusion, leadership, and strategy.

He also mentioned that the business model he once admired the most was Starbucks, because Starbucks raised the price of a cup of coffee from three or four cents to two yuan and five, and the business model was not an ordinary drink of a cup of three or four cents of coffee, but a person who knew how to enjoy life.

Editor: Xin ZhiXun - Langke Sword