Another reason for TSMC’s success was the decision to pivot to developing and manufacturing 12-inch wafers, when Intel and Samsung were focusing on 18-inch wafers in 2013, he said. TSMC had talks with European chip equipment supplier ASML, whose priority at the time was advanced technology, he said, adding that the industry was “hot for 450mm wafers,” which TSMC was not pursuing. However, ASML did not care whether “wafers [were] bigger or smaller,” as there was no cost saving, he said. It was one of the foolish things I’ve done,” said Chiang, who now lives in the US, where he is a citzen. SMIC could not purchase the latest manufacturing equipment to produce 7-nanometer chips because of US sanctions implemented three days after he joined the company, Chiang said.
