In fiscal year 2017, TSMC realized revenue of 33 billion U.S. dollars (about 208.7 billion yuan), net profit of nearly 80 billion yuan, and its market value of up to 220 billion U.S. dollars, surpassing Intel to become the world's largest semiconductor company. 'Foundry' The success of the model gave Zhang Zhongmou a reputation as a “semiconductor godfather”.
To some extent, TSMC's founding of TSMC not only created its own industry (semiconductor manufacturing industry), but also created the customer's industry (semiconductor design industry). It is precisely because the industrial division of work has gradually become a climate, fabless IC design company (fabless) continue to emerge, thus creating a number of well-known semiconductor design companies such as Qualcomm, Nvidia, MediaTek, Broadcom and others.
Nvidia founder and CEO Huang Renxun once publicly expressed his gratitude to Zhang Zhongmou. 'If TSMC is not owned, he is only the owner of a small company'.
Some people say that the 1970s was the golden age of the semiconductor industry in the United States. The 1980s was the era when Japanese semiconductors came to a peak. The 1990s was the era of the rise of the Korean semi-conductive industry. Then, in the 00s, it was supported by fabs. The era of sudden emergence of the semiconductor industry.
In the era of 'strong man' represented by Zhang Zhongmou, Taiwan’s semiconductor talents came out in large numbers, including Cai Mingjie, founder of MediaTek, Zhang Qingyu, former world’s leading chairman, Wang Guoyu, chairman of Genesis Technology, and Yang Dingyuan, founder of Winbond Electronics. Entered the fast lane. From IC Design Co., Ltd., MediaTek, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co., Ltd., to IC Packaging & Measurement Co., Ltd., Riyueguang formed the strongest lineup.
Of the thousands of listed companies in Taiwan, nearly half of the manufacturers are engaged in products related to the electronics industry. They are literally 'electronic treasure islands'. These electronic companies can be broadly divided into two categories. One is upstream. Semiconductor companies, including materials, equipment, design, manufacturing and packaging and testing; there is a computer and mobile phone factory and supporting components company.
However, with the retirement of Zhang Zhongmou, the industry expressed its own concerns about the prospects of Taiwan's semiconductors. Even Zhang Zhongmou himself admitted that the global semiconductor investment peak has passed. 'The rapid growth of semiconductors has passed, from 1952 to 2000. For a period of 48 years, the average compound annual growth rate is 16% per year, which is a very high figure. After 2000, about 4% to 5% will remain. In the next 10 years, I think it will be 4% to 5%.'
In such an environment, it will test the internal strength of the enterprise.
The semi-conductor industry can simulate running, and each contestant is actually doing similar actions. It is only suitable for long-distance running. Some people are suitable for sprinting. The challenges faced by Taiwanese companies come from the outside, but also from the inside. At the level, there is also a technical level. Whether or not the next decade will be in Taiwan, once again, semiconductor giants such as TSMC have responded. It is obviously very difficult to answer.
From the perspective of external challenges, Lin Jianhong, research manager of Jibang Tuobei Industrial Research Institute, believes that Taiwan’s share of the manufacturing market at mature process nodes will gradually decline. Internal challenges will come from land, energy, education policies, and salary levels will reduce manufacturing. The strength of packaging and testing and reinvestment. 'In the slowing down of the growth of PCs and smart phones, the market scale has driven down the driving force of semiconductor manufacturing industry. In the AI, 5G, self-driving and other issues, there will be a new market size, such as It will be the key to the continued growth of Taiwan's semiconductor manufacturing industry.
More importantly, the big bang of technology is rewriting the pattern of the semiconductor industry. The tech giants at the top of the mountain feel more intense than ever before. Take Qualcomm as an example. Although chip giants such as Intel have been defeated in the mobile era to become the market The rookie, but before artificial intelligence, 5G is immature, the criticism of Wall Street seems to be incomprehensible. Although Broadcom's acquisition offer failed to take place, it can be seen that even the top semiconductor companies cannot guarantee themselves. Will it become a victim of change?
The new market demand is also stimulating the emergence of new companies. To achieve economies of scale and reduce costs, leading companies will continue to carry out international mergers and acquisitions for the purpose of strategic integration. At the same time, as the industry enters the post-Moore era, companies will accelerate the layout. In the emerging markets, the competitive landscape in the subdivided areas will accelerate reshaping, and mergers and acquisitions around the Internet of Things, automotive electronics, data centers, and artificial intelligence will become increasingly active.
For Taiwan, China, taking IC design as an example, although it is the second largest IC design area in the world, second only to the United States, the gap is still very large, and the wave of mergers and acquisitions is not very popular.
This may have something to do with the Taiwanese business owner's mentality of “being a chicken head, not a cow.” Taiwan’s semiconductor industry used to have strong advantages, but it did not seize the opportunity to reorganize it. Many companies today are very small. Inadequate layout, can only compete in the market segment.
Lin Jianhong believes that the semiconductor industry is a highly-scale economic industry. The foundry industry can thrive and Taiwan’s frustration in the memory industry is affected by economies of scale. Taiwan is limited by the limited resources in the overall development of semiconductors and must have limited resources. Bet on specific projects, resulting in a relatively lack of investment in key IP/EDA/material/equipment areas, becoming a weak link in Taiwan's semiconductor development.