Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company Limited (TSM)’s CEO Expresses Concern About Water, Talent Shortages - Insider Monkey

In June 2026, TSMC's CEO voiced concerns about water and talent shortages during a ceremony for a new science park in Pingtung. He noted that the company was contemplating using water trucks due to po... Read original →

TSMC’s new science park in Pingtung, Taiwan, China, reveals hidden bottlenecks in advanced node scaling: 3nm and below processes demand massive volumes of ultrapure water, while intensifying droughts in southern Taiwan elevate operational risk. More critically, EUV-based manufacturing requires dense clusters of highly skilled engineers—yet talent remains concentrated in metropolitan Taipei, leaving rural fabs in a human capital vacuum. This not only inflates retention costs but may delay yield ramp for clients like NVIDIA on next-gen AI chips. Samsung could exploit this by enhancing its ‘all-inclusive’ talent ecosystem at its Texas fab to lure diversification-minded customers. Over the next 12–24 months, without systemic upgrades in regional infrastructure and industry-academia pipelines from Taiwan’s authorities, TSMC’s geographic concentration may shift from strategic advantage to supply chain vulnerability, accelerating global foundry decentralization.