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Bouke Scholtens's avatar

Fantastic piece! Thank you for sharing this information with all of us!

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Howard Yu's avatar

Thanks Bouke! So glad that you find the piece useful.

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Manish Solanki's avatar

Just joined yesterday and because of the linkedin post on TSMC. The brief write up got me curious and after reading the full story here, I must say it is fantastic, and a feat nothing short of extraordinary. This whole piece would have required a lot of research and indepth analysis, Kudos and more power to you. All the best

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Howard Yu's avatar

Thank you, Manish, for your kind words. It’s curious readers like you who keep me going. I hope the next piece will meet your expectations again. Happy reading!

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Gustavo Regueira's avatar

Congratulations on the article! First time I’m reading you.

I guess that (1) close collaboration with your customers, (2) the “never compete” with them, a (3) deep dive on your fundamentals vs. total vertical integration, (4) willingness to make big -but calculated- bets and (5) the strategic importance for all the stakeholders involved you remark on the article are the some of take-aways that explains TSMC’s success.

We could argue that timing has been important for them in becoming what they are today, as the AI-race has exponentially increased not only their demand but also their overall presence in the public eye. In any case they were ready and prepared for it, in the best -deserved- position to catch the train.

Makes me want to dive deeper into semiconductor space. I’m intrigued of the connections and inner-workings even more upstream (i.e. ASML) and the further implications downstream.

Fascinating!

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Howard Yu's avatar

Thank you, Gustavo, for reading through the piece. So glad you enjoyed it.

ASML truly deserves an investigation and coverage of its own. I remember speaking with engineers there years ago, back when they were just beginning to scale EUV. I was like, ‘What is that!?’ And now, it’s the industry standard. I’ll definitely try to come back to ASML in a future piece. Great to have you here!

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Sam Szuchan's avatar

I can't read enough about TSMC, such an interesting company...

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Howard Yu's avatar

I know... I remember visiting them for the first time back in 2007. They were... interesting. Now? They're inescapable. Unstoppable.

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Howard Yu's avatar

Oh Grant, you’re being way too kind. It took me quite a while to follow all the breadcrumbs and finally land on a conclusion I felt comfortable putting out there. Your encouragement means a lot. It’s always readers like you who keep me going. Thank you!

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Jul 23
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Howard Yu's avatar

Oh Grant, you’re being way too kind. It took me quite a while to follow all the breadcrumbs and finally land on a conclusion I felt comfortable putting out there. Your encouragement means a lot. It’s always readers like you who keep me going. Thank you!

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Drago Indjic's avatar

Agree. An old engineer, IEEE Life Member.

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Howard Yu's avatar

So glad that you enjoyed the piece too, Drago!

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