If China moves on Taiwan, foundry customers could turn to Samsung, Intel or others while considering older manufacturing nodes and design workarounds.
By Ron Wilson
What’s at stake:
If the political confrontation over Taiwan collapses into military confrontation, major U.S. companies would lose access to the advanced chip processes upon which their leading products and their roadmaps depend. There are workarounds, but they are not easy, quick, or cheap.
What if it all goes wrong across the Taiwan Strait? Growing antagonism with the U.S., increasing political and economic pressure inside the People’s Republic of China, simple accident—there is a significant, if unpleasant, chance that combat could occur in Taiwan. And given the parties involved and their interests, Taiwan’s industry and infrastructure would certainly be casualties.