Intel and TSMC are undergoing fundamental changes. The steps they take this year will endure for decades and reshape the global semiconductor industry.
TSMC's 5-nanometer fab under construction near Phoenix, Ariz. (Source: TSMC, via CNBC).
What’s at stake:
Intel Corp.’s path to becoming a major foundry is narrowing as TSMC responds with a change in its own manufacturing strategy. With new fabs under construction in the U.S. and others planned for Japan and potentially Europe, TSMC is poised to become the “local” chipmaker Western governments want to stabilize and rebalance the semiconductor supply chain. But is TSMC also in danger of destroying its successful recipe, and does Intel still stand a chance of achieving its objective?
The CEOs of two mega-players in the semiconductor industry, facing different challenges and pursuing different strategies to attain similar long-term objectives, collectively hold the fate of a critical part of the global IC market in their hands.