모리스 창
Founder of TSMC
127 records in all
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Episodes are real events from public sources, summarised by us.
Apple requested a 20-nanometer node instead of the 28-nanometer TSMC was producing or the 16-nanometer they planned next. This presented a resource challenge as TSMC's R&D could not yet handle two nodes simultaneously.
LessonA major customer's request can force a strategic detour that requires careful resource management.
Apple requested a massive amount of chip capacity that would have required TSMC to take on extreme debt. Morris Chang decided to only accept half of Apple's requested volume to maintain financial prudence.
LessonDon't let a single customer's ambition force you into an unsustainable financial position.
Morris joined General Instrument as COO with the hope of becoming CEO, but left within a year. He realized the company's culture of financial engineering and flipping businesses did not align with his technology-focused background.
LessonCultural fit is essential; even a high-level role won't work if the company's core strategy contradicts your professional values.
Minister KT Li pressured Morris to start a new semiconductor company and requested a business plan within days. Under this extreme time pressure, Morris conceived the brilliant idea of a pure-play foundry, a contract manufacturer that didn't design its own chips.
LessonExtreme constraints and tight deadlines can force the invention of entirely new business models.
In the beginning, TSMC had to take orders that established companies didn't want, such as low-margin products or temporary overflow. These companies would immediately pull their orders as soon as they had their own capacity, making TSMC's early market very unstable.
LessonBe prepared to accept less-than-ideal customers while you wait for your primary target market to emerge.
TSMC faced immense geopolitical pressure to build factories in the US and Japan. While they agreed to build a $12 billion plant in Arizona, Morris Chang maintained that moving leading-edge manufacturing away from Taiwan's ecosystem lacked business logic.
LessonExternal political pressure and subsidies should not dictate a core strategy that compromises operational efficiency.
미국 정부의 요청으로 애리조나에 120억 달러를 투자하기로 결정했지만, Morris Chang은 미국 내 제조가 비용이 많이 들고 낭비가 될 것이라고 경고했어요. 그는 높은 단위당 생산 비용 때문에 미국 공장이 TSMC와 경쟁하기 어려울 것이라고 보았어요.
LessonSubsidies cannot easily overcome fundamental geographic and economic disadvantages in manufacturing costs.
Morris Chang was honored by the Computer History Museum for his role in accelerating the semiconductor industry. He achieved this by developing the independent semiconductor manufacturing foundry model.
LessonCreating a new business category that solves a major infrastructure bottleneck can define an entire industry.
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