{"id":1452,"date":"2021-07-30T23:55:00","date_gmt":"2021-07-30T15:55:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.granitefirm.com\/blog\/us\/?p=1452"},"modified":"2026-05-01T14:15:37","modified_gmt":"2026-05-01T06:15:37","slug":"two-long-term-threats-to-tsmc","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.granitefirm.com\/blog\/us\/2021\/07\/30\/two-long-term-threats-to-tsmc\/","title":{"rendered":"Two long-term threats to TSMC: US and SMIC"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>Sugget you read my posts of &#8220;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.granitefirm.com\/blog\/us\/2024\/07\/10\/mong-song-liang\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Mong-Song Liang, the hero of SMIC\u2019s breakthrough in US blockade<\/a>&#8221; and &#8220;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.granitefirm.com\/blog\/us\/2025\/03\/08\/smic-after-us-embargo\/\">How is SMIC after US embargo?<\/a>&#8221; first, before move next.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div id=\"ez-toc-container\" class=\"ez-toc-v2_0_84 counter-hierarchy ez-toc-counter ez-toc-custom ez-toc-container-direction\">\n<div class=\"ez-toc-title-container\">\n<p class=\"ez-toc-title\" style=\"cursor:inherit\">Table of Contents<\/p>\n<span class=\"ez-toc-title-toggle\"><a href=\"#\" class=\"ez-toc-pull-right ez-toc-btn ez-toc-btn-xs ez-toc-btn-default ez-toc-toggle\" aria-label=\"Toggle Table of Content\"><span class=\"ez-toc-js-icon-con\"><span class=\"\"><span class=\"eztoc-hide\" style=\"display:none;\">Toggle<\/span><span class=\"ez-toc-icon-toggle-span\"><svg style=\"fill: #ffffff;color:#ffffff\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" class=\"list-377408\" width=\"20px\" height=\"20px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" fill=\"none\"><path d=\"M6 6H4v2h2V6zm14 0H8v2h12V6zM4 11h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2zM4 16h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2z\" fill=\"currentColor\"><\/path><\/svg><svg style=\"fill: #ffffff;color:#ffffff\" class=\"arrow-unsorted-368013\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" width=\"10px\" height=\"10px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" version=\"1.2\" baseProfile=\"tiny\"><path d=\"M18.2 9.3l-6.2-6.3-6.2 6.3c-.2.2-.3.4-.3.7s.1.5.3.7c.2.2.4.3.7.3h11c.3 0 .5-.1.7-.3.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7zM5.8 14.7l6.2 6.3 6.2-6.3c.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7c-.2-.2-.4-.3-.7-.3h-11c-.3 0-.5.1-.7.3-.2.2-.3.5-.3.7s.1.5.3.7z\"\/><\/svg><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/a><\/span><\/div>\n<nav><ul class='ez-toc-list ez-toc-list-level-1 ' ><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-1\" href=\"https:\/\/www.granitefirm.com\/blog\/us\/2021\/07\/30\/two-long-term-threats-to-tsmc\/#TSMC_discussion_in_my_books\" >TSMC discussion in my books<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-2\" href=\"https:\/\/www.granitefirm.com\/blog\/us\/2021\/07\/30\/two-long-term-threats-to-tsmc\/#TSMC_is_too_strong_right_now\" >TSMC is too strong right now<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-3\" href=\"https:\/\/www.granitefirm.com\/blog\/us\/2021\/07\/30\/two-long-term-threats-to-tsmc\/#United_States\" >United States<\/a><ul class='ez-toc-list-level-3' ><li class='ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-4\" href=\"https:\/\/www.granitefirm.com\/blog\/us\/2021\/07\/30\/two-long-term-threats-to-tsmc\/#US_finds_chip_manufacturing_overreliant_on_Taiwan\" >US finds chip manufacturing overreliant on Taiwan<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-5\" href=\"https:\/\/www.granitefirm.com\/blog\/us\/2021\/07\/30\/two-long-term-threats-to-tsmc\/#News_highlights\" >News highlights<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-6\" href=\"https:\/\/www.granitefirm.com\/blog\/us\/2021\/07\/30\/two-long-term-threats-to-tsmc\/#Let_history_speak\" >Let history speak<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-7\" href=\"https:\/\/www.granitefirm.com\/blog\/us\/2021\/07\/30\/two-long-term-threats-to-tsmc\/#Chinas_SMIC\" >China&#8217;s SMIC<\/a><ul class='ez-toc-list-level-3' ><li class='ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-8\" href=\"https:\/\/www.granitefirm.com\/blog\/us\/2021\/07\/30\/two-long-term-threats-to-tsmc\/#SMIC_is_the_leader_after_TSMC_and_Samsung\" >SMIC is the leader after TSMC and Samsung<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-9\" href=\"https:\/\/www.granitefirm.com\/blog\/us\/2021\/07\/30\/two-long-term-threats-to-tsmc\/#How_is_SMIC_currently_performing\" >How is SMIC currently performing?<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-10\" href=\"https:\/\/www.granitefirm.com\/blog\/us\/2021\/07\/30\/two-long-term-threats-to-tsmc\/#7nm_does_not_need_EUV_lithography_machine_at_all\" >7nm does not need EUV lithography machine at all<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-11\" href=\"https:\/\/www.granitefirm.com\/blog\/us\/2021\/07\/30\/two-long-term-threats-to-tsmc\/#SMICs_7nm_chips_have_already_shipped\" >SMIC&#8217;s 7nm chips have already shipped<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-12\" href=\"https:\/\/www.granitefirm.com\/blog\/us\/2021\/07\/30\/two-long-term-threats-to-tsmc\/#Closing_words\" >Closing words<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-13\" href=\"https:\/\/www.granitefirm.com\/blog\/us\/2021\/07\/30\/two-long-term-threats-to-tsmc\/#Related_articles\" >Related articles<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/nav><\/div>\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"TSMC_discussion_in_my_books\"><\/span>TSMC discussion in my books<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>I have discussed the company Nvidia (ticker:NVDA) in two recent books; including:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In my book &#8220;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.books.com.tw\/products\/0010889106?sloc=main\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">The Rules of Super Growth Stocks Investing<\/a>&#8220;:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Sections 2-4, the entire section is dedicated to introducing the company TSMC<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Section 3-3, analyze the business development of technology companies to grasp the pulse of key industries<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>In my book &#8220;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.books.com.tw\/products\/0010935641?sloc=main\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">The Rules of 10 Baggers<\/a>&#8220;:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Section 3-2, the entire section is dedicated to introducing TSMC and the global semiconductor supply chain.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"TSMC_is_too_strong_right_now\"><\/span>TSMC is too strong right now<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>In an interview a few months ago, the host asked me about the prospects of TSMC in the summary. I remember what I said: It is very safe to buy TSMC within five years, because there is no rival; it should be safe within ten years. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>It is impossible for semiconductor manufacturing peers to catch up with TSMC in the short term. My so-called short-term is within 2 to 3 years. It is not that the probability is very small. As far as the matter we are discussing, it is impossible to happen. It\u2019s not just a question of money (if it is, it\u2019s not Intel or SMIC that sits on the throne now, not TSMC). The reasons are complicated, but most reasons are in my book &#8220;The Rules of Super Growth Stocks Investing&#8221;. Sections 1-6, have been explained very clearly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>You can&#8217;t find any well-known semiconductor company that can be named and is not a customer of TSMC (ticker: TSM). In fact, three or four years ago, we rarely saw US investors discussing TSMC. I remember that it consolidated between US$20 and US$30 in ADR for a long time, and only broke through US$30 after March 2017. After that it began to rise sharply.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Regarding the competitiveness and advantages of TSMC, I have a very detailed explanation on sections 2-4 of my book &#8220;The Rules of Super Growth Stocks Investing&#8221;. But today we will not talk about the advantages of TSMC, but about the potential threats of TSMC. This is a question that long-term investors should think about; it will affect the value of your holdings.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>What about the threat of TSMC? The first is the United States, and the second is SMIC.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"United_States\"><\/span><strong>United States <\/strong><span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"US_finds_chip_manufacturing_overreliant_on_Taiwan\"><\/span>US finds chip manufacturing overreliant on Taiwan<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>Many people think that Taiwan is a friend of the United States, and the relationship has been excellent in recent years; those who hold this opinion are in fact a typical ostrich mentality. Except for TSMC\u2019s shareholder structure, which has already accounted for 78.48% of foreign shares in 2020, the vast majority of shareholders of 78.48% are of course American (If you think the shareholder structure is nothing to do with what we are talking about, please think back. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>However, in the  ByteDance &#8216;s TikTok case just a year ago, the controlling US shareholders joined forces to force ByteDanace&#8217;s overseas business to be sold to American companies; but ByteDance is obviously a mainland Chinese company (For TikTok, please see my blog post &#8220;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.granitefirm.com\/blog\/us\/wp-admin\/post.php?post=2818&amp;action=edit\"><\/a><a href=\"https:\/\/www.granitefirm.com\/blog\/us\/2021\/10\/18\/lets-talk-about-tiktok\/\">Let&#8217;s talk about TikTok<\/a>&#8220;). There are always only interests in business, no friends. Americans have been aware of the danger of long-term dependence on Taiwan for US semiconductor manufacturing since the Trump era. This is also the biggest reason why TSMC was forced to set up factories in the US (in terms of profit, this matter is completely illogical. Opinions on sections 2-3 of my  book &#8220;The Rules of Super Growth Stocks Investing&#8221;).<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2022\/01\/26\/us\/politics\/computer-chip-shortage-taiwan.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">After Biden took office, the U.S. government directly issued news several times to point out the danger of long-term dependence on Taiwan for U.S. semiconductor manufacturing<\/a> (U.S. customers contributed 62% of TSMC&#8217;s annual revenue in 2020, almost 2\/3, which shows how serious the problem is). It is now listed as a national security issue in the United States, led by the White House, and has formulated a number of localization plans for semiconductor manufacturing. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>It\u2019s just that the Taiwanese media\u2019s ostrich mentality, and it has long been habitual to report the good and ignore the worry; the self-interpretation of local media unilaterally always said the United States is mainly to deal with the Chinese mainland SMIC, and TSMC has been invited to participate in the discussion. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The spearhead of the transformational plan was actually TSMC, not SMIC at all. Because American was forced to block the EUV machine in the short term, SMIC is impossible to enter a more advanced manufacturing process. The proportion of SMIC&#8217;s North American customers is very low. In Q2 of 2021, it was only 13.8%. SMIC basically did not need to accept American customers, because the orders of Chinese customers could not be completed. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"News_highlights\"><\/span>News highlights<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>Let me briefly list the important developments:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Semiconductor device patent infringement? The United States will investigate TSMC, Samsung (10\/14\/2022)<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Worried about something in Taiwan? Japan and the United States are rumored to develop 2-nanometer chips, with mass production in 2025 (7\/29\/2022)<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Samsung Lee Jae-yong meets Intel Patrick P. Gelsinger met to cooperation (5\/31\/2022).<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>In order to reduce dependence on TSMC, the United States and Japan will cooperate in the development of advanced processes and officially exclude Taiwan. The U.S. and Japanese governments signed the contract of &#8220;Basic Principles of Semiconductor Cooperation&#8221;, aim to production 2nm semiconductor in Japan (5\/4\/2022).<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>US Secretary of Commerce Raymondo: The US will force TSMC and other foundries to hand over confidential corporate data such as chip inventory, orders, and sales records. The White House gave a deadline, requiring the industry to automatically hand over the data within 45 days. She was asked how the United States would respond if the company did not hand over the data? Raimundo threatened that the U.S. naturally has a way to get these manufacturers to provide data, and more bluntly, &#8220;I hope not to go to this point, but we will do so if necessary.&#8221; Other sources pointed out that the U.S. fears to quote the &#8220;National Defense The Production Law&#8221; forces semiconductor companies to hand over materials such as inventory and sales (9\/29\/2021).<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>US Secretary of Commerce Raymondo: Want to reduce dependence on Taiwanese chips manufacturing and subsidize foreign chip factories? Biden decided (7\/30\/2021).<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>The United States put pressure on TSMC and urged TSMC not to expand its 28nm wafer foundry in Nanjing, China (7\/12\/2021).<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Intel\u2019s chief executive urged that the US government\u2019s US$52 billion in semiconductor manufacturing subsidies should not be given to companies that only set up factories in the United States, but whose process technology and IP patent rights do not belong to the United States. \/6\/2021).<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>White House Supply Chain Health Check: Semiconductors are too dependent on Taiwan (6\/9\/2021).<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>The US report emphasized the cooperation between semiconductors and Japan and South Korea, and did not mention Taiwan (6\/8\/2021).<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Unwilling to rely on TSMC and Taiwan for chips, the United States wants to build another six or seven chip factories (5\/28\/2021).<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Get rid of relying on Taiwanese chips! Expert advice: Designed in Japan and made in the United States (5\/10\/2021).<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>The United States plans to hold a meeting on the chip issue on 4\/12\/2021. Only one non-US company, Samsung Electronics (ticker: SSNLF), is invited on the list.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Japan and the United States will cooperate on establishing a semiconductor industry chain that does not depend on specific regions for production, and establish a working group (4\/3\/2021).<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>The United States and Japan plan to build another semiconductor supply chain, but Taiwan is excluded (4\/2\/2021).<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Let_history_speak\"><\/span>Let history speak<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>After reading these developments above, if you still think that I am unreasonably worried; I am talking nonsense, this kind of thing, U.S. chokes TSMC is impossible. Then I advise investors with such a mentality to have the opportunity to:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Reeview sections 1-6 in my book &#8220;The Rules of Super Growth Stocks Investing&#8221;.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>My previous blog post &#8220;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.granitefirm.com\/blog\/us\/2022\/04\/01\/japan-is-already-a-country-of-mediocrity-not-as-advanced-as-you-think\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Japan is already a country of mediocrity, not as advanced as you think<\/a>&#8220;, I mentioned in this article why Japan has come to this stage now.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Chinas_SMIC\"><\/span>China&#8217;s <strong>SMIC<\/strong><span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Suggest you read my post of &#8220;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.granitefirm.com\/blog\/us\/2024\/07\/10\/mong-song-liang\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Mong-Song Liang, the hero of SMIC\u2019s breakthrough in US blockade<\/a>&#8221; before you read below contents.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"SMIC_is_the_leader_after_TSMC_and_Samsung\"><\/span>SMIC is the leader after TSMC and Samsung<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>SMIC (ticker: SIUIF) is currently the fourth or fifth place in global semiconductor manufacturing. In fact, everyone shouldn&#8217;t pay too much attention to the ranking after Samsung, because the gap is not big and ranking is of no significance. That being the case, why am I taking it out here? The reasons are as follows:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>The Chinese market is huge, and China is currently the world&#8217;s largest semiconductor market. Since China became the world&#8217;s largest semiconductor market in 2005, its scale has been steadily increasing. In 2018, China has consumed 2\/3 of the world&#8217;s semiconductors. In 2020, China&#8217;s semiconductor market will reach 143.4 billion U.S. dollars (much larger than China&#8217;s total crude oil imports), but the self-sufficiency rate is only 15.9%. In 2020 alone, China imported about three-quarters of the world&#8217;s semiconductor wafers (the number in 2018 was 2\/3), which is an amazing number!<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>SMIC is the only company capable of high-end processes below 7nm besides TSMC, Samsung, and Intel. If it is not for pressure from the United States, ASML (tick: ASML) prohibits the shipment of EUV machines to SMIC. SMIC\u2019s 7-nanometer chips have already been shipped (this is what SMIC\u2019s CEO has publicly disclosed several times &#8211; the technology and everything are already available, only the EUV machine is owed), this is what the world knows and the agreement is not news for a long time. Sooner or later SMIC will overcome the only bottleneck of the EUV machine (whether it is bought, built by itself, or found a viable alternative; and I don\u2019t think this bottleneck will be allowed to be delayed for a long time); because of technology, SMIC already possesses talents, market, and money, which are more important determinants for semiconductor foundry.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>In the long run, Samsung will not be TSMC&#8217;s rival, SMIC is. The reason is that I have a very detailed analysis on section 3-3 of my book &#8220;The Rules of Super Growth Stocks Investing&#8221;.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>With the exception of TSMC, Samsung, and Intel, other wafer foundries have long since been unable to afford astronomically huge capital investments, and they have all given up no longer investing in advanced manufacturing processes below 12 nanometers. In other words, there are only four players in the advanced semiconductor manufacturing process.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>What about Intel? Intel\u2019s internal problems are piling up, not money and technology only (see my other article &#8220;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.granitefirm.com\/blog\/us\/2021\/06\/24\/this-company-is-changing-the-gaming-rules\/\">This company is changing the gaming rules<\/a>&#8221; and my book &#8220;The Rules of Super Growth Stocks Investing&#8221; sections 3-7 for Intel&#8217;s detailed analysis), it is not a factor that can be solved within 3 to 5 years.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"How_is_SMIC_currently_performing\"><\/span>How is SMIC currently performing?<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>SMIC&#8217;s performance is actually very close to that of the third largest wafer foundry, GlobalFoundries (ticker: GFS), and its profit margin is much higher than that of any US or European foundry. This is what Americans are worried about. As of mid-2022, Intel does not have any chips produced by the 7-nanometer process in the market, and Intel is also developing its foundry business. The most advanced process in US or European foundries is only GlobalFoundries&#8217;s 12-nanometer process.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"7nm_does_not_need_EUV_lithography_machine_at_all\"><\/span>7nm does not need EUV lithography machine at all<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>In fact, the manufacture of 7-nanometer wafers does not require Esmol\u2019s EUV machine at all, and TSMC\u2019s 7-nanometer does not actually use EUV lithography machines.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"SMICs_7nm_chips_have_already_shipped\"><\/span>SMIC&#8217;s 7nm chips have already shipped<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>SMIC&#8217;s cryptocurrency mining customer MinerVa has long said that SMIC&#8217;s 7-nanometer wafers has already started production as early as July 2021.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"193\" height=\"92\" src=\"https:\/\/www.granitefirm.com\/blog\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/09\/bom-1600x1200-1.jpg\" alt=\"TSMC\" class=\"wp-image-14070\"\/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Closing_words\"><\/span>Closing words<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>TSMC&#8217;s competitiveness will still have no rivals within near future and even mid-term, but no company is perfect and can maintain strong long-term competitiveness for a long time, because this is the characteristic of capitalism. Long-term investors must still pay attention to the long-term threats of the companies you invest in.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Related_articles\"><\/span>Related articles<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>&#8220;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.granitefirm.com\/blog\/us\/2026\/04\/30\/tsmc-violating-labor-law\/\">TSMC has notorious tracking record of violating Labor Law<\/a>&#8220;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.granitefirm.com\/blog\/us\/2026\/03\/23\/tsmc-ceo-appalling-remarks\/\">&#8220;TSMC CEO appalling remarks on Chinese robots, inferiority to nVidia Huang<\/a>&#8220;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>&#8220;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.granitefirm.com\/blog\/us\/2026\/04\/04\/skywater-3d-chip-us-foundry\/\">SkyWater, 3D chip leader and the only pure-play US chip foundry<\/a>&#8220;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>&#8220;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.granitefirm.com\/blog\/us\/2025\/09\/22\/chang-refuted-by-yeh\/\">Morris Chang refuted by Yeh Wanan, Taiwan was unwilling to invest in TSMC<\/a>&#8220;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>&#8220;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.granitefirm.com\/blog\/us\/2025\/04\/13\/china-mature-process\/\">China is monopolizing world&#8217;s chip mature process<\/a>&#8220;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>&#8220;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.granitefirm.com\/blog\/us\/2025\/05\/05\/semiconductor-to-taiwan\/\">How important is semiconductor industry to Taiwan?<\/a>&#8220;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>&#8220;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.granitefirm.com\/blog\/us\/2025\/03\/08\/smic-after-us-embargo\/\">How is SMIC after US embargo?<\/a>&#8220;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>&#8220;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.granitefirm.com\/blog\/us\/2025\/03\/16\/risks-and-disadvantages\/\">TSMC risks and disadvantages in Taiwan<\/a>&#8220;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>&#8220;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.granitefirm.com\/blog\/us\/2025\/03\/02\/tsmc-moat-competitiveness\/\">165 billions investment proved TSMC moat and competitiveness is fragile<\/a>&#8220;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>&#8220;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.granitefirm.com\/blog\/us\/2025\/02\/06\/tsmc-originally-founded\/\">How was TSMC originally founded? Not by Morris Chang<\/a>&#8220;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>&#8220;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.granitefirm.com\/blog\/us\/2025\/02\/16\/why-was-asml-founded\/\">Why was ASML founded?<\/a>&#8220;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>&#8220;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.granitefirm.com\/blog\/us\/2024\/12\/28\/morris-changs-controversial\/\">TSMC Morris Chang&#8217;s controversial words and deeds<\/a>&#8220;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>&#8220;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.granitefirm.com\/blog\/us\/2025\/01\/05\/semiconductor-packaging-2\/\">TSMC is becoming the lord of semiconductor packaging, in addition to foundry<\/a>&#8220;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>&#8220;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.granitefirm.com\/blog\/us\/2024\/10\/21\/abandoned-nuclear-hit-tsmc\/\">Taiwan&#8217;s abandoned nuclear hit TSMC hard, profit margins decrease 1% by electricity price increase<\/a>&#8220;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>&#8220;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.granitefirm.com\/blog\/us\/2024\/09\/06\/what-are-silicon-photonics\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">What are silicon photonics? Why it&#8217;s important? and current progress<\/a>&#8220;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>&#8220;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.granitefirm.com\/blog\/us\/2024\/10\/02\/rapidus-tsmcs-rival\/\">Rapidus will be TSMC&#8217;s strongest rival in the future<\/a>&#8220;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>&#8220;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.granitefirm.com\/blog\/us\/2024\/09\/28\/how-does-onto-make-money\/\">How does Onto make money? Advanced packaging beneficiary<\/a>&#8220;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>&#8220;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.granitefirm.com\/blog\/us\/2024\/07\/10\/mong-song-liang\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Mong-Song Liang, the hero of SMIC\u2019s breakthrough in US blockade<\/a>&#8220;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>&#8220;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.granitefirm.com\/blog\/us\/2025\/01\/09\/tsmc-valuation\/\">Why is TSMC valuation much lower than US peers?<\/a>&#8220;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>&#8220;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.granitefirm.com\/blog\/us\/2023\/11\/30\/tsmc-negative-corp-culture\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">TSMC negative toxic corp culture and management style are detrimental to its future and growth<\/a>&#8220;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>&#8220;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.granitefirm.com\/blog\/us\/2024\/04\/10\/four-chip-companies\/#google_vignette\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Four chip companies account for one-third of S&amp;P 500 gains so far this year<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>&#8220;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.granitefirm.com\/blog\/us\/2024\/04\/06\/artificial-intelligence-listed-companies\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Top five lucrative artificial lucrative intelligence listed companies<\/a>&#8220;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>&#8220;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.granitefirm.com\/blog\/us\/2024\/04\/01\/tsmc-dcf-value\/\">What&#8217;s TSMC DCF intrinsic value?How to calculate it quickly with a free tool?<\/a>&#8220;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>&#8220;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.granitefirm.com\/blog\/us\/2022\/10\/01\/how-many-fab-does-tsmc-have\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">How many fabs and houses does TSMC have currently and in the future?<\/a>&#8220;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>&#8220;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.granitefirm.com\/blog\/us\/2022\/05\/13\/yield-rate-comparison\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Yield rate comparison of SMIC, Rapidus, TSMC, Samsung, Intel&#8217;s advanced process<\/a>&#8220;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>&#8220;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.granitefirm.com\/blog\/us\/2023\/04\/29\/cost-of-chip-foundry\/\">The TSMC cost, sell price, and R&amp;D cost of chip foundry<\/a>&#8220;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>&#8220;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.granitefirm.com\/blog\/us\/2022\/01\/15\/asml-who-really-caught-tsmcs-neck\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">ASML, who dominate TSMC\u2019s fate<\/a>&#8220;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>&#8220;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.granitefirm.com\/blog\/us\/2021\/12\/28\/tsmc-process-roadmap\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Comparison of SMIC, Rapidus, TSMC, Intel, and Samsung\u2019s new process roadmaps for future chips<\/a>&#8220;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>&#8220;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.granitefirm.com\/blog\/us\/2021\/07\/30\/two-long-term-threats-to-tsmc\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Two long-term threats to TSMC: US and SMIC<\/a>&#8220;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>&#8220;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.granitefirm.com\/blog\/us\/2022\/06\/30\/tsmcs-profit-margin\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Why is TSMC\u2019s profit margin much greater than competitors?<\/a>&#8220;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>&#8220;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.granitefirm.com\/blog\/us\/2022\/08\/13\/how-does-tsmc-make-money\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">How does TSMC make money?<\/a>&#8220;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>&#8220;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.granitefirm.com\/blog\/us\/2022\/11\/02\/zyvex\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Zyvex and sub-nanometer semiconductor processes, will Zyvex threat TSMC?<\/a>&#8220;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>&#8220;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.granitefirm.com\/blog\/us\/2023\/01\/28\/tsmc-serious-crises\/\">TSMC gets emerging&nbsp;and serious challenges<\/a>&#8220;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>&#8220;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.granitefirm.com\/blog\/us\/2021\/06\/24\/nvidia-changes-gaming-rules\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">How does nVidia make money, Nvidia is changing the gaming rules<\/a>&#8220;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>&#8220;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.granitefirm.com\/blog\/us\/2023\/12\/11\/nvidias-monopoly\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">The reasons for Nvidia\u2019s monopoly and the challenges it faces<\/a>&#8220;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>&#8220;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.granitefirm.com\/blog\/us\/2022\/01\/29\/arm-acquired-by-nvidia\/\">Why nVidia failed to acquire ARM?<\/a>&#8220;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>&#8220;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.granitefirm.com\/blog\/us\/2023\/07\/02\/revisiting-nvidia\/\">Revisiting Nvidia: The Absolute Leader in Artificial Intelligence, Data Center, and Graphics<\/a>&#8220;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>&#8220;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.granitefirm.com\/blog\/us\/2021\/10\/30\/how-does-intel-make-money-and-the-benefits-to-invest-in-it\/\">How does Intel make money? and the benefits to invest in it<\/a>&#8220;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>&#8220;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.granitefirm.com\/blog\/us\/2021\/11\/05\/intels-current-difficult-dilemma\/\">Intel&#8217;s current difficult dilemma<\/a>&#8220;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>&#8220;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.granitefirm.com\/blog\/us\/2022\/11\/22\/texas-instruments-bio\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">How does Texas Instruments make money? Amazing long term capital reward and company net profit margin!<\/a>&#8220;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>&#8220;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.granitefirm.com\/blog\/us\/2022\/04\/22\/amd-make-money\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">How AMD makes money? A rare case of turning defeat into victory<\/a>&#8220;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>&#8220;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.granitefirm.com\/blog\/us\/2024\/02\/05\/amd-jaw-dropping\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Why is AMD\u2019s performance so jaw-dropping?<\/a>&#8220;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>&#8220;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.granitefirm.com\/blog\/us\/2022\/05\/01\/qualcomm-diversifies\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Qualcomm diversifies success, no nonger highly dependend on phone<\/a>&#8220;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>&#8220;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.granitefirm.com\/blog\/us\/2024\/01\/29\/how-arm-make-money\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">How does the ubiquitous Arm make money?<\/a>&#8220;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>&#8220;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.granitefirm.com\/blog\/us\/2021\/07\/23\/significant-changes-in-broadcoms-business-approach\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Significant changes in Broadcom\u2019s business approach<\/a>&#8220;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>&#8220;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.granitefirm.com\/blog\/us\/2023\/03\/04\/data-center-a-rapidly-growing-semiconductor-field\/\">Data center, a rapidly growing semiconductor field<\/a>&#8220;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>&#8220;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.granitefirm.com\/blog\/us\/2024\/04\/18\/applied-materials\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">How does Applied Materials, lord of semiconductor equipment, make money?<\/a>&#8220;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>&#8220;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.granitefirm.com\/blog\/us\/2024\/08\/12\/lam-research-chip-equipment\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">How does Lam Research, top chip equipment player, make money?<\/a>&#8220;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>&#8220;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.granitefirm.com\/blog\/us\/2021\/09\/25\/the-lucrative-semiconductor-industry\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">The lucrative semiconductor supply chain<\/a>&#8220;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>&#8220;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.granitefirm.com\/blog\/us\/2022\/01\/25\/global-semiconductor-chip-market-in-detail\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Global semiconductor chip market in detail, big dominators and markets<\/a>&#8220;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>&#8220;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.granitefirm.com\/blog\/us\/2022\/05\/07\/semiconductor-investment\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">6 common wrong semiconductor investment myths<\/a>&#8220;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>&#8220;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.granitefirm.com\/blog\/us\/2022\/09\/23\/3rd-gen-semiconductor\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Gen 3 semiconductor<\/a>&#8220;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>&#8220;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.granitefirm.com\/blog\/us\/2023\/06\/14\/eda-synopsys-cadence-mentor\/\">Three EDA oligopoly vendors: Synopsys, Cadence, and Siemens&#8217;s Mentor Graphics<\/a>&#8220;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>&#8220;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.granitefirm.com\/blog\/us\/2024\/01\/22\/how-cadence-make-money\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">How does, the EDA oligopoly, Cadence make money?<\/a>&#8220;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>&#8220;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.granitefirm.com\/blog\/us\/2023\/12\/22\/how-synopsis-make-money\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">How does Synopsis, the EDA oligopoly, make money?<\/a>&#8220;<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><em><strong>Disclaimer<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><em>The content of this site is the author\u2019s personal opinions and is for reference only. I am not responsible for the correctness, opinions, and immediacy of the content and information of the article. Readers must make their own judgments.<\/em><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><em>I shall not be liable for any damages or other legal liabilities for the direct or indirect losses caused by the readers&#8217; direct or indirect reliance on and reference to the information on this site, or all the responsibilities arising therefrom, as a result of any investment behavior.<\/em><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Two long-term threats to TSMC<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":14070,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[110,189,204,192],"tags":[348,64,518,41,169,377,1345,376,260],"class_list":["post-1452","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-semiconductor","category-antitrust","category-moats-and-competitive-advantages","category-regulation","tag-amd","tag-asml","tag-gfs","tag-intc","tag-nvda","tag-samsung","tag-siuif","tag-smic","tag-tsm"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.granitefirm.com\/blog\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1452","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.granitefirm.com\/blog\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.granitefirm.com\/blog\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.granitefirm.com\/blog\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.granitefirm.com\/blog\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1452"}],"version-history":[{"count":84,"href":"https:\/\/www.granitefirm.com\/blog\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1452\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":42081,"href":"https:\/\/www.granitefirm.com\/blog\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1452\/revisions\/42081"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.granitefirm.com\/blog\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/14070"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.granitefirm.com\/blog\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1452"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.granitefirm.com\/blog\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1452"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.granitefirm.com\/blog\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1452"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}