[News] Taiwanese Foundries and Networking Companies to Benefit amid Escalating US-China Tech War

According to a report from Commercial Times, with expectations that tensions between the U.S. and China remain unresolved for the time being, and China’s continued production in mature process semiconductor foundries and communication equipment, the trend of decoupling from China is likely to expand.

The U.S.-China trade war has continued for several years, with the U.S. announcing in May an additional tariff on Chinese imports, including a substantial 50% tariff on semiconductor products manufactured in China by 2025. This move has further intensified the trade conflict between the two superpowers.

Thus, as per the same report, as concerns over overcapacity in various industrial products in China heighten this year, coupling with the unresolved U.S.-China relations, Taiwanese foundries including UMC, VIS, Powerchip, and networking companies such as WNC, SERCOM and Arcadyan may be benefited from the potential increased outsourcing orders.

Consequently, despite aggressive pricing competition from Chinese mature process foundries, the average selling price (ASP) and overall operational performance of Taiwan’s major mature process foundries have exceeded expectations in the first half of this year.

TrendForce previously indicated that, the supply chain’s order-shifting has become more proactive with the imposition of US tariffs. Qualcomm, which began cooperation discussions with Vanguard in 2021, has made its production plans more aggressive this year. This has prompted Vanguard to expand the first-phase capacity of its new Fab5 plant by 3Q24 and to complete cross-plant validation for Qualcomm’s PMIC to meet demand. Since 2022, MPS has also started shifting orders, including plans with both Vanguard and PSMC.

In recent years, the limitations on Chinese companies’ expansion in the U.S. have also allowed Taiwanese networking companies to capture significant American infrastructure opportunities. WNC covers optical fiber, 5G FWA, and enterprise networking businesses, with over 60% of its revenue from the Americas. SERCOMM Corporation has penetrated the North American optical fiber broadband upgrade market, securing key North American telecom operators. Meanwhile, Arcadyan Technologys’ optical fiber products have entered top-tier North American telecom operators.

Read more

• [News] China Contributes Over 40% of U.S. Chip Equipment Makers’ Revenue despite Export Controls
• [News] China Lists Semiconductor Self-Reliance Challenges, Excluding Lithography Equipment

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