TSMC's CEO, C.C. Wei, has commented on the advancements being made by Intel Foundry in the semiconductor segment, claiming that his firm has "no worries."
TSMC holds the largest market share in the foundry segment, and the firm has consolidated its position recently by capitalizing on the AI frenzy, driven by HPC and AI customers. However, given the capacity constraints the Taiwan chip giant faces , this has opened up a new opportunity for competitors like Samsung and Intel Foundry, which are targeting 'spill-off' customers who can no longer place orders at TSMC. One of the major competitors for TSMC in recent times has been Intel Foundry, given their recent success and optimism towards the 18A and 14A processes.
In the development of semiconductor technology to this point, receiving investment has not helped to improve competitiveness, right? I also hope that those who invested in Intel, as mentioned earlier, can also invest in TSMC.
As to whether the progress of Intel's foundry business will affect TSMC's market share, Wei Zhejia replied that he was "not worried." He emphasized that TSMC does not underestimate the progress of any competitor, but has been growing in a competitive environment for more than 30 years and is "confident" in maintaining its established operating growth targets.
- TSMC's C.C.Wei via UDN
In an earnings conference today, TSMC's Chairman C.C. Wei was asked whether TSMC feels a 'threat' from the likes of Intel, especially with its US-based clients. To this, Wei replied that his company is "confident" with its current position, saying that competitors cannot simply beat TSMC by "throwing capital" on advanced chip processes. TSMC's Chairman argued that the execution of advanced chip technology focuses on preparing production lines, certifying designs from partners, and then establishing sufficient capacity for external customers, implying that capital isn't the only factor.
Intel Foundry has been advancing its chip offerings recently, and the company's breakthrough with Panther Lake, built upon its in-house 18A technology, is seen as an indicator that Team Blue is emerging as a strong competitor in the foundry segment. More importantly, Intel's 18A-P and 14A processes are known to have attracted interest from companies such as Apple, NVIDIA, AMD, and Qualcomm . Although this has yet to materialize into chip orders, it is fair to say that Intel appears confident in competing alongside TSMC.
TSMC's C.C. Wei's remarks are likely to shade towards Trump's administration's move to invest $8.9 billion in Intel Foundry, along with commitments from NVIDIA and SoftBank. Interestingly, TSMC has also decided to ramp up its investments in the US to increase foundry competitiveness in the region. The Arizona fab is now being prepared for 3nm production lines , a process that is in high demand.
It would be interesting to see how the TSMC-Intel rivalry evolves in the future, as the AI supply chain has become so vast that a single foundry player is no longer sufficient to meet the demands.
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