Sipu Jha
Arm CEO Rene Haas suggested that Intel could face challenges in matching TSMC’s position as a major chip foundry. The chief executive of the UK-based semiconductor and software design company stated that once a company falls behind in the semiconductor industry, recovery is an uphill climb. In a recent All-in Podcast, Haas, while commenting on the debate about whether Intel could serve as a viable US-based alternative to the Taiwanese chip manufacturer, said that “Intel has unfortunately been punished on a few areas.” He also pointed out the opportunities that the US-based chip maker missed, explaining why all the leading companies like Apple and Nvidia are flocking to build from TSMC.
What Arm CEO Rene Haas said about Intel’s missed opportunities
At the podcast, Haas said: “There are long product cycles. It takes a long time to develop chips. It takes a long time to invest in fabs. It takes a long time to define architectures and ecosystems. If you miss a few time is very…you will be punished for that. I think Intel has unfortunately been punished on a few areas. They were punished on mobile, obviously, they missed that completely. They were also punished in terms of manufacturing of going to EUV, an advanced methodology for building the smallest chips on the planet. They decided not to invest in that probably a decade ago at the rate that TSMC did, and they fell behind.”“Once you fall behind in chips, it’s very difficult to catch up because the cycle gets on top of you. TSMC now has the best fabs in the world. The leading-edge companies, Apple, NVIDIA, AMD, they all build at TSMC. TSMC gets better at what they’re building. An Intel, a Samsung, they don’t get the opportunities. It just compounds. And that flywheel once it compounds and it compounds, it’s very hard to catch up in a series of position,” Haas explained.
Rene Haas on cultural divide in semiconductor industry
In addition, Haas noted cultural differences in how manufacturing is viewed, stating that while such jobs are respected in Taiwan, they are often perceived as less appealing in the West, which could impact the long-term stability of US manufacturing.“I mean, we may have had it a generation or so ago. I don’t know that we have it now. And we certainly haven’t trained a generation of folks to look at manufacturing jobs as being something that is as lucrative and prestigious. They’re sort of thinking, ‘Oh, it’s a blue collar job. I don’t want to go into that way.’ It’s not viewed that way in Taiwan, right? And in Taiwan, if you say you’re working for TSMC or studying to go off and do that, it’s a highly prestigious kind of thing,” he noted.
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