1 year is about to pass since the U.S. announced in May 2020 the strengthening of sanctions against China’s Huawei technology. With this as a turning point, the flow of many global commodities has changed, and it is Taiwan, where semiconductor companies are clustered, that is beginning to receive attention. a lot has changed in 1 year, and the world has the potential to change Taiwan more visibly.
“This is a new high-class condominium project that has not yet started construction, and after it started taking reservations a few days ago, it was all sold out in 3 days”, said a local real estate developer in the eastern part of Hsinchu City in northern Taiwan, who could hardly hide his surprise.
A local male resident in his 40s said that “after June 2020, there was a noticeable change” and that “the prices of high-class condominiums around the area quickly started to rise” just one month after the U.S. announced tightened sanctions against Huawei.
High-end condominium complex near TSMC headquarters (Hsinchu City, March)
In particular, the prices of luxury condominiums in the area known as the “Costco neighborhood” have risen. New condominiums costing around 100 million yen are also selling very well today. Many of the buyers are employees of TSMC, which has its headquarters nearby. According to a source within TSMC, “One employee bought 20 units alone.
With the announcement of increased sanctions against Huawei by the United States in May 2020, TSMC has entered an unprecedented rush. Huawei received a large number of orders from Huawei, which wanted to secure a large amount of inventory before the sanctions. TSMC entered an unprecedented busy period, and the special compensation given to employees skyrocketed.
The world’s attention was further focused on TSMC and other Taiwanese companies when a major cold snap hit Texas in February this year, shutting down rival semiconductor plants one after another. a factory fire at Renesas Electronics in Japan in March also had a noticeable impact. But even if they wanted to respond to the countries’ requests, Taiwan’s production capacity has reached its limit. TSMC Chairman Deyin Liu also said, slightly wearily, at the end of March, “I hope the world will not have misunderstandings about Taiwan.
TSMC is now known as “a company that achieves 2 trillion yen in profits on 5 trillion yen in revenue”. In the southern city of Tainan, far from the headquarters, the construction of a new factory is now progressing rapidly on a vast area under the strong sunlight. This light looks somewhat like it is being rushed by the world.
In southern Taiwan, construction of TSMC’s state-of-the-art plant advances (Tainan City, March)
Here, production of the cutting-edge semiconductors supplied exclusively to the U.S. Apple smartphone iPhone 12 has started since last year. If certain impacts cause the plant to shut down, there is the potential for instant and huge economic impact on the world. The surrounding area is full of tension under the watchful eyes of security guards. A supplier-related person said, “The situation is completely different from before”.
The environment in Taiwan has changed drastically in this 1 year. TSMC, which is standing on the windward side, will further recruit 9,000 employees this year to accelerate its preparation for achieving growth. TSMC is taking action for further changes as it recently proposed an unprecedented investment plan of US$100 billion in the next 3 years.
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