The Economist - USA (2019-12-21)

The EconomistDecember 21st 2019 Holiday specials 29

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ccompanied onlybythenight-time
striddlingofcicadasandthesqueaky
pedalonyourborrowedbicycle,youhead
westthroughcabbageand sugarcaneto-
wardsredneonsignageonthehorizon.By
thetimeyoureachthefields’end,thehum
ofair-filtrationsystemsdrownsoutthein-
sects.Fivefactorybuildingsloominthe
darknessbehindsteelfences.Straydogs
roambetweenparkedcars;sprinklerswa-
terthesumactreesplantedattheedgeof
thefacility.High-tensionwiresdivedown
intoa substationfromsteelpylons,bring-
ingwiththemenoughmegawattstopower
a smallcity.
Some of the water evaporates from
warmconcretewalkways,waftinganartifi-
cialpetrichorscentoverentranced2, the
gateinthenorth-westcornerofthecom-
poundwhichleadstoa sixthfactoryasyet
onlyhalfbuilt.Constructionworkersare
trailingoutofit,mountingscootersand
headingawayintothenight.Butevennow,
anhourbeforemidnight,theworkhasnot
ended;heavyconstructionclangsoutover
thecarpark.Thebuildingisvast;cycling
arounditwouldtaketenminutesorso,on
footit mighttakeanhour.Notthatthisisa
possibility.Securityguardsemergefrom
theirhutsasyouapproach,somerushing
andshooing,othersmerelyplacingthem-
selvespointedlyinyourlineofsight.
Unlessyou areinthesemiconductor
business,orsomealliedtrade,theletters
ontheneonsignsonthefactoryroofs—
tsmc—probablymeana lotlesstoyouthan
thenamesofmostoftheother 29 ofthe
world’s 30 most valuablepublic compa-
nies.ButApple(thesecondmostvaluable
onaverageoverthepastsixmonths,at$1trn),Alibaba(seventh,
$458bn),Visa(9th,$380bn),Disney(21st,$249bn)andmanyofthe
otherswould be nowherewithout theTaiwan Semiconductor
ManufacturingCompany(26th,$228bn).
Unlikemostofthoseothermegacorps,tsmcdoesnotsellpro-
ducts orservices to thepublic, but itsfabrication plants—or
“fabs”—providemanyofthehigh-performancechipswhichmake
those productsand services possible.Phones,onlinemarket-
places,smartcards,streamingvideoandmuchmorealldependon
them.Withupto90%ofthemarketforthethird-partymanufac-
tureofadvancedchips,tsmcdominatestheproductionofthein-
frastructureonwhichthemodernworldreliesbymanipulating
matterwitha precisionnoothercompanycanmatch.
Thatuniquecapabilitymakestsmcimportantina waythat
goesfarbeyondthecommercial.Vitaltotheadvancedindustries
ofboththeUnitedStatesandChina,itsunmatchedcapabilitiesin
therealmofthenanosculehaveimplicationsatthehighestlevels
ofgeopolitics.
Semiconductorsaremazesofcircuitryconsistingofcompo-
nentssuchastransistorscarvedintosilicon.Theexponentialin-

creaseincomputercapabilitiesknownasMoore’slaw

(namedafterGordonMoore,oneofthefoundersofIn-

tel,a chipmaker)ispossiblebecausemakinga chip

betterandcheaperrequireslittlemorethanmaking

thosecomponentssmaller.Butcreatingextraordinary

shrinkingcircuitsrequiresanextraordinarilyincreas-

ingphysicalinfrastructure.

Notjustfab:thefabbest

Nextyeartsmc’s Fab18,thathalf-finishedsixthbuild-

ingcurrentlybeingworkedonatallhoursinthecorner

ofthecampusoutsideTainan,willstartmakingchips

forApple’snewiPhone.Thesechipswillcrammore

than170mtransistorsontoeachsquaremillimetreof

silicon,creatingstructureswithfeaturesassmallas

five-billionthsofa metre,orfivenanometres(5nm).

Thatis1,000timessmallerthana redbloodcell, 100

timesshorterthanthewavelengthofvisiblelight,well

undera tenththesizeofa viruslikehiv.

Moreorlesstheonlythingsofconsequencesmaller

Thepivot

TAINAN

Semiconductors Among the fields of southern
Taiwan is a factory around which
the whole world turns

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