According to Financial Associated Press on March 13 (Editor: Ma Lan)$Taiwan Semiconductor (TSM.US)$Recently announced a 100 billion USD investment in the USA to strengthen the construction of the semiconductor industry. Although the market highly questions whether this move is in response to the tariff threats from the Trump administration, Taiwan Semiconductor and related parties have denied this speculation.

Taiwan Semiconductor CEO Wei Zhejia stated that customer demand drove the decision to establish plants in the USA, and although the investment in the USA appears to be substantial, it is still insufficient to meet the demand.

According to the plan, Taiwan Semiconductor will add two advanced packaging plants, three semiconductor foundries, and a research center based on its original factory in Arizona. This will bring Taiwan Semiconductor's total investment in Arizona, USA, to 165 billion USD.

Such a massive investment has led some to question whether it will cause significant changes in the Global chip capacity, believing that Taiwan Semiconductor's opening of more factories in the USA will affect Taiwan's position in the Semiconductors Industry.

However, analysts say that Taiwan Semiconductor's investment in the USA will not trigger significant changes in the Industry landscape, as its advanced chip manufacturing business will remain concentrated in Taiwan.

Manufactured in the USA but not made by American ingenuity.

Hui He, the research director at Omdia, stated that 90% of Taiwan Semiconductor's 5-nanometer chip processes are still produced in Taiwan, and the latest generation of 3-nanometer chips is also only produced in that region. This means that Taiwan still occupies the majority of Taiwan Semiconductor's advanced capacity, so the increase in production capacity in the USA will not have a significant impact.

Industry insiders believe that Taiwan Semiconductor is unlikely to deploy cutting-edge chip manufacturing operations in Arizona; instead, the factory in Arizona is more likely to engage in the production of mature chips, with processes that are slightly behind cutting-edge technology.

Phelix Lee, a Stocks Analyst at Morningstar, also pointed out in a report that he believes Taiwan Semiconductor's new factory in the USA is a very strong signal and not purely for business purposes. Taiwan Semiconductor had previously complained that the construction and manufacturing costs of factories in the USA are higher than in other regions, and it prefers to conduct research and development and manufacturing in Taiwan.

David Chuang, a senior research analyst at Isaiah Research, expressed doubts about whether Taiwan Semiconductor's $100 billion commitment can really be fulfilled. He pointed out that there is indeed demand in the USA, but Taiwan Semiconductor may not be able to gain much profit from "Made in America."

He added that Taiwan Semiconductor's existing factory in Arizona produces a low-cost version of 4-nanometer chips, which will be used in relatively simple devices such as smartwatches, instead of high-end Smart Phones.

Chuang concluded that Taiwan will always be Taiwan Semiconductor's base for developing advanced chips, while the production capacity and processes in the USA will forever lag behind. This is determined by the ecosystems and talent supply for chip manufacturing in both regions.

Editor/ping