The Ledger
Every statement that passed quotation and attribution checks. Mix any filter with any other: certainty 1/5, debate potential 5/5, or both at once.
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Chang: Tim Cook told me in 2011 that Intel cannot run a foundry
“And anyway, he told me there's nothing to worry about because Intel just does not know how to be a Foundry.”
Morris Chang: Mark Liu declined TSMC BD role due to small headcount
“So, I, ah, first offered the marketing, ah, business development job to the guy who was in the Bigger job, advanced technology, Mark. And I explained to him that I did not think he had had any significant marketing experience in the past, and this would, this …”
Chang: None of Taiwan's PC makers liked dealing with Intel
“Before this Apple thing, Apple and we, before Apple became our customer, I knew a lot of Intel's customers in Taiwan. You know, all the PC makers are Intel's customers. I mean, they, none of them liked Intel. None of them.”
Chang: 2009 TSMC CEO retake was triggered by 600-700 performance layoffs
“Another problem was the immediate one that triggered me to retake the CO ship because the previous CO had laid off, except he didn't use the term laid off, you know. He used the bad performance review, the worst performance review people, and there were about …”
Chang: TSMC's 2009 CEO circumvented board approval by framing layoffs as performance dismissals
“So I said to him, if you want to lay off, bring it to the board. I'll call a special board meeting. And I knew what I would ask the board to do, you know, which was not to grant the permission. That's right. But he decided to circumvent that, the CEO, you know…”
Morris Chang: China heavily subsidized and took control of solar manufacturing
“The solar business could have been pretty good. However, China ruined it. They subsidized the hell out of it. And they now control that business, solar cells.”
Chang: TSMC Offered NVIDIA Over $100M with 48-Hour Deadline
“Yes. More than a hundred million. And I also said, our offer is effective, 48 hours. If you do not, there is not going to be, we are not going to argue, we are not going to bargain. If you don't accept the offer within 48 hours, we will have to go to an arbitr…”
Chang: Previous TSMC CEO Offered NVIDIA Zero Dollars in Dispute
“The previous CEO did not even give him a number, you know. The previous CEO gave him zero.”
Chang: Replaced TSMC CEO kept same pay, grade, and successor status
“Well, as far as the CO is concerned, I didn't keep him. I had More than one nice talk with him. I intended to, and I told him that he was still a potential, ah, successor to me. So I kept him at the same job grade, we have job grades, and the same salary and b…”
Chang: TSMC board questioned suddenly tripling CapEx for 28nm
“Setting the R&D at eight percent of did not, Invite any opposition from the board, but suddenly increasing capital spending, threefold, I think, did invite a lot of questions from the board.”
Chang: Apple's initial TSMC pitch proposed a 40% gross margin
“He did say that we will let you have a 40% gross margin, and I think, well, I didn't say anything. I didn't answer him. I didn't respond to that, but our margin at that time was already 45%, and I was trying to put it up to 50%.”
Chang: Apple placed initial 16nm chip orders with Samsung over TSMC
“I mean, it was a real shock when I heard that Apple had placed their first orders of 16 with Samsung.”
Chang: NVIDIA became a top-five TSMC customer within three years
“Within two or three years, they were, they did become one of the biggest five customers.”
Morris Chang: TSMC's LED venture failed due to restrictive patent concentration
“LED did not take off either, because LED, it's not, the market is not as big as solar. However, it's controlled, the patents are controlled by just a few companies. And they wouldn't let the few companies that control the patterns of LED were not let up at all…”
Chang: TSMC led foundries at 28nm, but trailed Intel
“At 28 nanometers, we were very definitely the leader among foundries. Yeah. And maybe among a few other companies such as Texas Instruments and so on, but not Intel.”
Chang: Apple was not actively considering Intel foundry in 2010
“No, Apple Was not actively considering intel. That came later.”
Chang: Committing to 20nm delayed TSMC's 16nm development
“We, our R&D was not strong enough to do two nodes at the same time. Now we are. But back then we weren't. So, the trade-off of accepting the 20 node technology was that we delayed our 16 node Development.”
Chang: TSMC launched 16nm six months later and won most Apple orders
“We developed, we had our own 16 about half a year later, and most of Apple's 60 nanometer requirements still belonged to us.”
Chang: Refined BCG's learning curve theory at TI for semiconductor manufacturing
“I really did not develop. I certainly did not initiate it. I think I had a role at TI. I had a role in refining it to the point where a semiconductor company can use it effectively.”
Morris Chang: TSMC exceeded $1 billion in revenue in 1995
“We had exceeded, I remember we had exceeded the one billion U.S. Dollars in revenue in 95, and this was 97.”
Chang: Texas Instruments repeatedly rejected raising semiconductor R&D to 5.5% of revenue
“At that time, when I was the head of Worldwide Semiconductors, our R&D budget,
Was, 4.8% of revenue, of our revenue, and I thought it was not enough.
I just wanted to raise it to 5.5% of the revenue, but my request was denied all the, every time I raised it.”
Chang: TSMC gross margins crossed 50% after his retirement
“Now, of course what happened later was that there was COVID and so on, and also we began to have leadership, technology leadership. So our margin, you know. Jumped up to over 50%, but when I retired, I was still short of 50%, slightly short of 50%. I was almos…”