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The Diplomat author Mercy Kuo regularly engages subject-matter experts, policy practitioners, and strategic thinkers across the globe for their diverse insights into U.S. Asia policy. This conversation with Dr. David Yoffie
– Max and Doris Starr Professor of International Business at Harvard Business School and author of numerous publications on strategy and technology – is the 280th in “The Trans-Pacific View Insight Series.”
Evaluate the effectiveness of TSMC and Samsung in meeting global demand for chips.
The impact of the pandemic led to a surprising surge in demand for semiconductors, which no one anticipated. The result has been long queues at TSMC and Samsung on filling orders. Moreover, it takes roughly two years to build and qualify a new semiconductor fab. As a result, it was impossible for any foundry to ramp new production quickly enough to satisfy demand. The effectiveness of TSMC and Samsung to meet demand is disappointing for the world, bu