the one they are pounding in the mature chip market

Semiconductor manufacturers have a strategic role for the Taiwan government. And they have it because the chips are fundamental for the support of their economy. TSMC leads the industry of the manufacture of integrated circuits with an approximate quota of 60%. And, in addition, other Taiwanese companies, such as UMC (United Microelectronics Corporation) or PSMC (Powerchip semiconductor manufacturing corporation), they have a very prominent role in this industry.

However, the business of the three companies I just mentioned is different. TSMC specializes in the production of High integration semiconductorsso it competes mainly in the avant -garde chip market. This is the reason why Apple, Nvidia, AMD, Qualcomm or MediaTek, among other technology companies. TSMC is indisputably Taiwan’s jewelbut this does not mean that the business of the other Taiwanese chips manufacturers is not relevant.

The strength of UMC, PSMC and other companies on the island reside in the competitiveness that they have sustained for years in the market of mature integrated circuits. These are the semiconductors that are mostly used in cars, appliances or electronic devices, among other products, and usually occur in nodes of 28 nm or less advanced. However, the future of these medium -term companies is uncertain. And it is because China has proposed to dominate The mature chip market. And he is getting it.

Taiwan is already losing the market of mature integrated circuits

The Taiwanese government does not want to lose its strength in this industry, but its future is not entirely promising. In fact, the IDC consultant He has predicted that your participation in the global sector of integrated circuits manufacturing will be reduced from 46% to 43% in 2027. However, this is not all. According to the TrendForce consultant China’s quota in the mature chip market has reached 34% in 2024, while Taiwan amounted to 43%. However, according to this same source in 2027, China’s participation will clearly exceed Taiwan.

The semi association (Semiconductor equipment and materials international), which represents the semiconductor industry and their supply chains, provides that Of the 97 new integrated circuit factories that have started or will start large -scale production between 2023 and 2025, 57 They will be housed in China. And most of the latter will be dedicated mainly to the manufacture of mature chips with the purpose of consolidating the domain of the country led by Xi Jinping in a market in which it has more and more weight.

China’s interest in the mature chip industry is the response of this country to US sanctions and its allies that prevent their manufacturers from accessing the most advanced lithography equipment than produces the Dutch company ASML. At this situation, Taiwanese chips manufacturers only have one option, As Frank Huang explainsPresident of PSMC: “The factories of mature nodes like ours must be transformed. Otherwise Chinese price cuts will affect us even more.” This transformation in practice will gradually abandon the production of mature semiconductors to turn to the manufacture of high integration chips.

Image | TSMC

More information | Reuters

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