Apple’s chip supplier dragged into a political feud overseas،
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company – or TSMC – found itself at the center of an election campaign clash in early 2024.
In addition to being Taiwan's largest contract chipmaker and most valuable company, TSMC is Apple's chip supplier and the Cupertino giant is TSMC's largest customer. Besides the advantageous deal that it managed to reach with TSMC and save a lot of money not so long ago, Apple's new iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 15 Pro Max devices contain something very special as SoC: the A17 Pro chip from TSMC which uses 3 nm. process node. 3nm is cutting-edge technology because the lower the number, the more transistors a chip can contain, making it more powerful and energy efficient.
Today, TSMC is contested by two vice-presidential candidates in Taiwan. The candidates argued over the company's overseas investments and whether tensions with China made Taiwan too dangerous a place to invest (via Reuters) Taiwan's 2024 presidential elections are just days away, on January 13, and the report highlights how China, which claims Taiwan as its own territory, has been ramping up military pressure to assert its claims, including holding military drills. war near the island. in a live debate, Jaw Shaw-kong (vice-presidential candidate of Taiwan's Kuomintang Party (KMT), said Wall Street financiers met with him before he knew he was was launching the presidential race and asked him if there would be a war.
“If Taiwan does not have a peaceful environment, no one will dare to invest,” Jaw said, blaming the ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) for tensions with China. “Our TSMC wants to escape abroad. Taiwan plus one – one factory in Taiwan, one abroad, thus emptying our Taiwan.”
TSMC, which is building factories in Japan and the U.S. state of Arizona and plans another in Germany, did not immediately respond to Reuters' comments.
“TSMC is the pride of Taiwan and should not be used for competition or political consumption. It is our sacred mountain that protects the country,” said DPP vice presidential candidate Hsiao Bi-khim , Taiwan's former de facto ambassador to the United States. States.
