In this special episode of Acquired, hosts Ben Gilbert and David Rosenthal present a conversation with Dr. Morris Chang, the 93-year-old founder of TSMC, recorded in Taipei. After years of studying the semiconductor industry, they secured an interview with Chang, focusing on key stories from his autobiography, particularly those involving Apple, NVIDIA, and the birth of the fabulous industry.
The conversation begins with Chang recounting his relationship with Jensen Huang, the CEO of NVIDIA. It started in 1997 when Huang sent him a letter expressing NVIDIA's desire to partner with TSMC after their San Jose office was unresponsive. Intrigued, Chang met Huang, who impressed him with his articulateness and optimism, despite NVIDIA's financial difficulties at the time. Huang predicted that their new chip would save the company and make NVIDIA a major TSMC customer, a bold statement given TSMC's size. His prediction came true and NVIDIA would soon become one of TSMC's biggest customers.
The discussion shifts to a challenging period in 2009 when TSMC experienced manufacturing and quality issues with the 40-nanometer node. Chang, who had stepped back into the CEO role, discovered that the previous CEO, relying on flawed quality assessments, had not offered NVIDIA any compensation for the delays and quality problems. Compounding the issue, the company was also struggling with a pricing strategy that wasn't keeping pace with manufacturing costs. Upon reassuming the CEO position Chang called Jensen immediately
Chang also addressed an employment crisis where the previous CEO had laid off hundreds of employees based on performance reviews, a practice against TSMC's ethos. These layoffs sparked protests, even reaching Chang's home, prompting him to take swift action. Chang then shares how Sophie Chang's wife distributed breakfast to the protesters in hopes of having a peaceful resolution.
To resolve the NVIDIA dispute, Chang contacted Jensen, offering a significant settlement exceeding $100 million. He presented the offer with a 48-hour deadline, emphasizing its fairness and avoiding arbitration. Jensen accepted the offer, solidifying the strong partnership between the two companies.
The conversation moves to TSMC's decision to aggressively pursue the 28-nanometer node after the 40-nanometer problems. He mentions his push to significantly increase the R&D budget, setting it at 8% of revenue, a move that empowered the R&D team to innovate and propose the 28-nanometer node as the "sweet spot." Despite board concerns about increased capital expenditure, Chang made the strategic decision to fully commit to 28-nanometer, leading to success with smartphones which was the smartphone era.
Chang recounts a meeting with Apple in 2010 facilitated by Terry Gou of Foxconn. Jeff Williams from Apple proposed TSMC as a foundry, but for 20-nanometer, a half-step detour from the planned 16-nanometer progression. Although it was a detour, Chang agreed but limited the capital expenditure.
Chang shares a story about approaching Goldman Sachs to help finance the venture. They eventually decided that Goldman Sachs and TSMC would issue corporate bonds, but TSMC would only fill half of Apple's order.
The conversation takes a turn when Apple considered Intel as a foundry, leading to a pause in discussions. Chang, unfazed, visited Apple, where Tim Cook reassured him, emphasizing Intel's lack of foundry expertise and the importance of customer trust. Ultimately, TSMC secured Apple's business, but Samsung managed to become a 16-nanometer supplier ahead of them.
Dr. Chang then talks about the Qualcomm and IBM story. Qualcomm at the time had a contract that TSMC knew about with IBM. He knew they were a prime candidate to be TSMC's customer. But over time he found out that Qualcomm's main foundry was now TSMC's foundry, so he figured that IBM was now in trouble. Shortly afterwards, IBM would come in with an offer for TSMC to co-develop process technology. But TSMC passed and IBM went to TSMC's rival, UMC, in which Dr. Chang would laugh about how UMC would regret this offer.
Chang explains the learning curve theory, emphasizing the importance of volume and experience in reducing costs and gaining a competitive advantage. He credits his time at Texas Instruments for refining his understanding and application of this theory.
Wrapping up, Chang reflects on TSMC's unlikely success, acknowledging that while its scale and importance exceeded his initial expectations, he always believed in its potential. He dismisses the notion that TSMC would stop at Fab 2, citing his belief in the learning curve. He saw the birth of the fabulous companies such as ARM and the market demanded more computing power through Moore's Law, all of which has contributed to TSMC's success.
In a post-game discussion, Ben and David emphasize the genius of TSMC's pure-play foundry model, its integral role in enabling fabulous companies, the geographic importance of Hsinchu Science Park, and the continued relevance of the learning curve.