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That means it should ease demand for the 3nm node so we can see more non-Apple chips on it?

I'm just curious where'd does TSMC find free real estate in Taiwan for so many fabs. At this rate Taiwan will be all TSMC fabs.

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https://focustaiwan.tw/business/202311100005

> At this rate Taiwan will be all TSMC fabs.

It's almost in every big cites, but there are still some regions in Taiwan that don't welcome TSMC to set up factories.

for the amount of money they make in the relatively small footprint, sacrificing a scrap of farmland is always worth it

You need a lot more than scrap farmland. The amount of water semi fabs consume is insane, and Taiwan doesn't have abundant clean water sources.

Relevant Asianometry video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C3RzODSR3gk&t=2s

TSMC is working to bring water consumption down, but yeah, the water consumption is still critical

Aren't most modern fabs re-using over 90% of their water?

At the same time, you would think by now there would be better planning - preserving useful farming soil for farming. But yeah, the difference is too high for most places to bother. In any country I know of.

It's fair also that some farming activity is not very compatible with high human density nearby, such as spraying and dust. So it's hard to intersperse high rises with production farmland.

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