Name: 為什麼 "嗶嗶啵啵 "的芯片都是臺灣製造的？ (Why Taiwan Makes All The Chips That Beep Boop)
Uploaded: 2025-04-07T06:29:10.000Z
Duration: 17 min 32 s

程度副詞

If I'm being honest, I don't know how semiconductors work, and I don't really understand all the processes that go into making them.

老實說，我不知道半導體是如何工作的，也不太瞭解製造半導體的所有過程。

情態副詞

You're telling me that you grow a crystal, slice it up using diamond, then shoot an ultraviolet beam at it and suddenly it can compute?

你是在告訴我，你培育出一個晶體，用鑽石把它切成薄片，然後向它發射一束紫外線，突然它就能計算了？

情態助動詞 B1

You might as well be inscribing runes on an ancient stone and casting a spell on it to make it think.

你還不如在一塊古老的石頭上刻下符文，然後施法讓它思考。

I know one thing though, that wizard casting the spell is most likely Taiwanese.

不過我知道一點，那個施法的巫師很可能是臺灣人。

That's because around 60% of the world's semiconductors are made on the relatively small island of Taiwan, over 90% if you only count the most advanced ones.

這是因為全球約 60% 的半導體是在相對較小的臺灣島製造的，如果只計算最先進的半導體，則超過 90%。

But saying Taiwan is the world's dominant chip manufacturer is a little like saying me and Warren Buffet have a combined net worth of around $150 billion, which is true.

但是，說臺灣是世界上占主導地位的芯片製造商，就有點像說我和巴菲特的淨資產加起來約有 1,500 億美元，這是事實。

For Taiwan, it's TSMC and the rest of the island's companies.

對臺灣而言，則是臺積電和島內其他公司。

Taiwan accounts for 70% of global foundry revenue, any money made from the manufacturing of chips.

臺灣佔全球晶圓代工收入的 70%，即從芯片製造中賺取的所有收入。

But the Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company alone accounts for 65% of it.

但臺灣半導體制造公司一家就佔了其中的 65%。

And its market dominance has only grown since the AI boom, where it accounted for only 55% of market revenue at ChatGPT's launch.

自人工智能熱潮以來，它的市場主導地位只增不減，在 ChatGPT 推出時，它只佔市場收入的 55%。

Put simply, TSMC is one of the world's most advanced semiconductor makers.

簡而言之，臺積電是全球最先進的半導體制造商之一。

It has the world's best technology, best facilities, and best engineers to make the most cutting-edge semiconductors.

它擁有世界上最好的技術、最好的設備和最好的工程師，可以製造最尖端的半導體。

The company did this by being the first true foundry model business.

公司通過成為第一家真正意義上的代工模式企業來實現這一目標。

In the early days of the integrated chip revolution, companies like Intel, Texas Instruments, and IBM both designed and manufactured semiconductors themselves.

在集成芯片革命的早期，英特爾、德州儀器和 IBM 等公司都自行設計和製造半導體。

But as chips were stuffed with more and more transistors, roughly doubling every two years to now billions per chip, it was becoming ever harder for these companies to keep up with the new technologies and manufacturing costs.

但是，隨著芯片中的半導體越來越多，每兩年大約翻一番，現在每塊芯片的半導體數量已達數十億個，這些公司越來越難以跟上新技術和製造成本的步伐。

At the same time, they were losing significant market share to Japanese companies.

與此同時，他們的市場份額也被日本公司大幅擠佔。

To protect their profits and competitiveness, many of these companies started to outsource the manufacturing process to Asia, while keeping the more lucrative design sector in America.

為了保護利潤和競爭力，許多公司開始將生產流程外包給亞洲，而將利潤更豐厚的設計部門留在美國。

This is TSMC's foundry model, focusing only on the manufacturing of chips, taking requests from large companies who can't justify building their own fabs.

這就是臺積電的代工模式，它只專注於芯片製造，接受那些無法自建晶圓廠的大公司的請求。

Now Taiwan was not an obvious choice to outsource to.

現在，臺灣並不是一個明顯的外包選擇。

From the Dutch colonization of the islands to the Japanese occupation, Taiwan's main export had been sugar.

從荷蘭殖民到日本佔領，臺灣的主要出口產品一直是蔗糖。

It was a very poor agricultural country, having roughly the per capita output of a sub-Saharan African country.

它是一個非常貧窮的農業國，人均產出與撒哈拉以南非洲國家差不多。

But after the Chinese Civil War and communist victory, its history radically changed when the Nationalist Republic of China fled to Taiwan in 1949 along with over 2 million refugees.

但在中國內戰和共產黨取得勝利後，1949 年，中華民國國民黨帶著 200 多萬難民逃往臺灣，使臺灣的歷史發生了根本性的變化。

Aided by the American government, the country set out on an ambitious land reform effort, without the deaths that mainland China's reform caused.

在美國政府的幫助下，中國開始了雄心勃勃的土地改革，但並沒有像中國大陸的改革那樣造成死亡。

This increased total agricultural production, giving the KMT government more control over the countryside and more leeway to invest in areas outside of farming.

這增加了農業總產量，使國民黨政府對農村有了更多的控制權，在農業以外的領域投資也有了更大的餘地。

The KMT was quite domineering in this period, declaring martial law for four decades while jailing and executing thousands of political dissidents.

在此期間，國民黨相當跋扈，宣佈戒嚴長達四十年，同時監禁和處決了數千名持不同政見者。

In an attempt to industrialize Taiwan, the government put up import restrictions while subsidizing large corporations.

為了實現臺灣的工業化，政府在補貼大企業的同時，還設置了進口限制。

But because they were so poor, most of these subsidies came from American aid, up to 40% of their total investment.

但由於他們太窮了，這些補貼大部分來自美國的援助，高達總投資的 40%。

Then in the 60s, this was sharply reduced as Taiwan shifted to an export-oriented growth model.

到了 60 年代，隨著臺灣轉向出口導向型增長模式，這一比例急劇下降。

Taiwan became known for cheaply made, small manufactured goods with companies like IBM starting to outsource assembly to Taiwan during this period.

在此期間，IBM 等公司開始將組裝工作外包給臺灣，臺灣開始以生產廉價的小型製成品而聞名。

The government initiative that placed Taiwan at the center of global affairs didn't start until the 70s, when Taiwan opened the Industrial Technology Research Institute.

政府將臺灣置於全球事務中心的舉措始於上世紀 70 年代，當時臺灣成立了工業技術研究院。

This was part of an explicit plan to create a new semiconductor industry after experiencing the shocks of the oil crisis.

在經歷了石油危機的衝擊之後，這是創建新半導體產業的明確計劃的一部分。

The government lured the world's best electrical engineers, mostly those who had studied in the US, to come and create this new industry.

政府吸引了世界上最優秀的電氣工程師，其中大部分都曾在美國學習過，前來創建這一新興產業。

Its first attempt, the United Microprocessor Company, worked, but found it hard to acquire technology from other countries' protections.

它的第一個嘗試是成立聯合微處理器公司，但發現很難從其他國家的保護措施中獲得技術。

To this day, UMC is still a top 5 foundry.

時至今日，聯電仍然是排名前五的代工廠。

The next attempt was spearheaded by Morris Chang, who had moved to the US when he was 18 to study English literature, before realizing he wanted to make money and started a career as a transistor engineer at Sylvania.

下一次嘗試由莫里斯-張（Morris Chang）發起，他在 18 歲時移居美國學習英國文學，後來意識到自己想要賺錢，於是在西爾凡尼亞公司（Sylvania）開始了半導體工程師的職業生涯。

Here, he was reported to make dozens of transistors an hour.

據報道，他在這裡每小時能製造出幾十個半導體。

Chang ended up working for Texas Instruments in 1958, helping to pioneer the mass production of chips.

1958 年，Chang 加入德州儀器公司，成為大規模生產芯片的先驅。

Here, TI focused on building their own consumer electronics from start to finish.

在這裡，德州儀器自始至終專注於製造自己的消費電子產品。

But after he was snubbed for the CEO position, he quit after 25 years and after a brief stint at General Instruments, would take the Taiwanese government up on its offer going to work at the ITRI.

但在首席執行官的職位上遭到冷落後，他在 25 年後辭職，在通用儀器公司短暫工作後，他接受了臺灣政府的邀請，前往工研院工作。

In 1987, Chang founded TSMC with the goal of offering a foundry model for American and Japanese firms to technologically cement Taiwan in the semiconductor production chain.

1987 年，張忠謀創立了臺積電，目標是為美國和日本公司提供代工模式，從技術上鞏固臺灣在半導體生產鏈中的地位。

Chips were initially priced at a loss to the company, banking on the idea that the fabs to make them would grow too costly for Silicon Valley startups to build themselves.

芯片最初的定價對公司來說是虧本的，因為公司認為生產芯片的工廠成本太高，硅谷的初創公司無法自己建造。

This would let them gain an early market share and increase it via the outsourcing efforts.

這將使他們儘早獲得市場份額，並通過外包努力擴大市場份額。

From the start, the Taiwanese government had also funded the company.

從一開始，臺灣政府也資助了該公司。

Through the National Development Fund, they owned 48% of TSMC at its initial public offering.

在臺積電首次公開募股時，他們通過國家發展基金持有臺積電 48% 的股份。

Philips, a Dutch electronics conglomerate, owned 28%, and the rest was held by private investors, mainly wealthy families the government had persuaded into buying.

荷蘭電子企業集團飛利浦擁有 28% 的股份，其餘股份由私人投資者持有，主要是政府說服購買的富裕家庭。

Chang, the engineers, and the investors have made TSMC into one of the world's most profitable and important businesses, a top 10 company by market cap, sitting up there with big shots like Meta and Berkshire Hathaway.

張忠謀、工程師和投資者將臺積電打造成為全球最賺錢、最重要的企業之一，市值排名前十，與 Meta 和伯克希爾-哈撒韋（Berkshire Hathaway）等大公司並駕齊驅。

The typical semiconductor chain goes something like this.

典型的半導體產業鏈是這樣的。

Companies which design them, like Nvidia, Google, and Apple, those that make them, where TSMC lies, and those that use them to make this.

設計這些產品的公司，如 Nvidia、谷歌和蘋果；製造這些產品的公司，如臺積電；以及使用這些產品製造這些產品的公司。

How do you set yourself apart on the second node?

如何在第二個節點上脫穎而出？

TSMC, by constantly focusing on small, real improvements and not trying to balance their money between the manufacturing and designing sector, has locked them into a technological advantage for the last decade or so.

臺積電一直專注於微小而實際的改進，並不試圖在製造和設計部門之間平衡資金，這使得他們在過去十多年裡一直保持著技術優勢。

For example, they spent $40 billion in research development in 2023 alone.

例如，僅在 2023 年，他們在研究開發方面就花費了 400 億美元。

Plus, since they're one of the only companies who can produce the most advanced chips, they essentially get part of the largest tech companies' research budgets too.

此外，由於他們是唯一能生產最先進芯片的公司之一，他們基本上也能獲得最大科技公司的部分研究預算。

What else are they going to do, design these new chips and never have them be made?

他們還能做什麼，設計出這些新芯片卻永遠無法生產出來嗎？

The standard size for a silicon wafer is 300mm in diameter, or about 1 foot.

硅晶片的標準尺寸是直徑 300 毫米，約合 1 英尺。

The wafer is then split into dies, units that the integrated chip will be etched onto.

然後，晶圓被分割成芯片，即集成芯片將被蝕刻在上面的單元。

But the amount of dies you can get out of a wafer depends on the size of the transistors inside.

但是，從一個晶片中可以獲得的芯片數量取決於內部半導體的大小。

Transistors, which used to look like this, are now measured in nanometers.

半導體過去的外觀是這樣的，現在則以納米為組織、部門。

The most advanced chips use 3 nanometer processes, 1 20,000th the width of a strand of human hair, though really, when you get this small, it's more of a marketing term than their actual size.

最先進的芯片採用 3 納米工藝，寬度僅為頭髮絲的 20,000 分之一。

You also need to expect that some dies will be unusable due to errors in making them.

您還需要預料到，由於製作過程中的錯誤，有些模具將無法使用。

A single speck of dust could cause a $250,000 mistake if it lands on a wafer, why all work must be done in clean rooms.

是以，所有工作都必須在無塵室內進行。

So in total, there are around 1,500 steps to make a semiconductor, each with their own procedures, materials, and equipment.

是以，製造半導體總共有大約 1500 個步驟，每個步驟都有自己的程序、材料和設備。

The thousands of these, found off of this chain, need to be invested in to keep up with the innovation treadmill.

要跟上創新的腳步，就必須對從這個鏈條上發現的成千上萬的這些產品進行投資。

Like these machines, extreme ultraviolet lithography machines.

與這些機器一樣，極紫外線光刻機也是如此。

There is only one company on earth, ASML, which has the capability to produce and export them.

世界上只有 ASML 一家公司有能力生產和出口這些產品。

This is what enables anything 5 nanometers and below, making them essential for TSMC's ability to make modern chips.

這使得 5 納米及以下的芯片成為可能，這也是臺積電製造現代芯片的關鍵所在。

Each of these EUV machines weighs about 165 tons and costs up to $200 million per unit.

每臺超紫外設備重約 165 噸，單價高達 2 億美元。

That's the price of a Boeing 767 and the weight of two.

這相當於一架波音 767 的價格和兩架波音 767 的重量。

A modern fab can have up to 20 of them, so it makes sense for only the most moneyed companies to buy them.

一個現代化的工廠最多可以擁有 20 個這樣的設備，是以只有最有錢的公司才會購買它們。

Samsung, Intel, and TSMC are the only ones, enabling only these three companies to manufacture the most advanced semiconductors.

只有三星、英特爾和臺積電三家公司能夠生產最先進的半導體。

As chip demand has surged with more internet usage, 5G networks, techie cars, data centers, and the all-consuming Ouroboros god we call artificial intelligence, the technology gap between which chips can be used for these new technologies and which can't has grown.

隨著互聯網使用量的增加、5G 網絡、科技汽車、數據中心以及被我們稱為人工智能的 "大蛇丸"，對芯片的需求激增，哪些芯片可用於這些新技術，哪些芯片不可用於這些新技術，這兩者之間的技術差距越來越大。

So TSMC, which can manufacture all types of chips, has seen its market dominance grow in the past few years.

是以，能生產各種類型芯片的臺積電在過去幾年中的市場主導地位不斷增強。

Ranging from 500 nanometer to 3 nanometer processes, their fabs include 5 in the Hsinchu Science Park, 3 in the Southern Taiwan Science Park in Tainan, including the current best in the world, 1 in the Central Taiwan Science Park in Taichung, 2 in China, 1 in Shanghai, the other in Nanjing, 1 in Japan with another under construction, 1 under construction in Dresden, Germany, 3 planned in Taiwan where 2 nanometer processes will start, and finally in the US, 1 in Camas, Washington, and a facility including 6 fabs under construction in Phoenix,  TSMC also has common business sense.

這些工廠的工藝從 500 納米到 3 納米不等，其中 5 個位於新竹科學園區，3 個位於臺南的臺灣南部科學園區，包括目前世界上最好的工廠，1 個位於臺中的臺灣中部科學園區，2 個位於中國，1 個位於上海，另一個位於南京、最後在美國，一座位於華盛頓州卡馬斯，一座位於鳳凰城，包括 6 座在建晶圓廠。

It will never design its own chips to prevent any conflict with future customers.

它永遠不會設計自己的芯片，以免與未來的客戶發生衝突。

They had been the original maker of the iPhone's A-series processors for its first 4 generations, but after launching its Galaxy phone, of course using Samsung-designed and manufactured chips, Apple sued them for intellectual property theft, winning over half a billion dollars from them and losing Samsung a valuable customer.

他們是前四代 iPhone A 系列處理器的原始製造商，但在推出 Galaxy 手機（當然使用的是三星設計和製造的芯片）後，蘋果以知識產權盜竊為由起訴了他們，並從他們那裡贏得了超過 5 億美元的賠償，同時也讓三星失去了一個寶貴的客戶。

After Intel turned them down, TSMC would take them up on the offer to manufacture the iPhone's chips, and to this day, Apple is still their single largest customer, followed by the 4 American chip designers, Qualcomm, AMD, Broadcom, and Nvidia.

在英特爾拒絕他們之後，臺積電接受了他們製造 iPhone 芯片的提議，時至今日，蘋果仍是他們最大的客戶，其次是高通、AMD、博通和英偉達這四家美國芯片設計公司。

So despite the fact that Samsung is as advanced as TSMC in chip-making technology, their need to vertically integrate their design and manufacturing into their own products has scared away potential customers.

是以，儘管三星在芯片製造技術上與臺積電一樣先進，但他們需要將設計和製造垂直整合到自己的產品中，這就嚇跑了潛在客戶。

Now, their foundry revenue is only a seventh of TSMC's, actually losing much of their market share since the AI boom.

現在，他們的代工收入只有臺積電的七分之一，實際上自人工智能熱潮以來，他們的市場份額已經大不如前。

Business is fine and all, but it's hard to talk about TSMC without at least mentioning their geopolitical consequences in the world.

商業固然是好的，但談及臺積電，至少不能不提到他們在世界上造成的地緣政治影響。

China and America are both in rivalry with each other for military and AI dominance and commercially dependent on each other.

中美兩國都在爭奪軍事和人工智能的主導權，在商業上也相互依賴。

Although TSMC may be the supplier to America's biggest tech companies, most of their sales actually go to China.

儘管臺積電可能是美國最大科技公司的供應商，但它們的大部分銷售額實際上都流向了中國。

A large part of this is the triangle tech trade, where American companies will design high-tech products, outsource the component-making to Taiwan, who then outsources the assembly to Chinese plants to ship back to America.

其中很大一部分是三角技術貿易，即美國公司設計高科技產品，將零部件製造外包給臺灣，臺灣再將組裝外包給中國工廠，然後運回美國。

Though another part is that China is genuinely out-competing America on key new technologies like batteries, electric vehicles, and drones, made with and used alongside semiconductors.

但另一個原因是，中國在電池、電動汽車和無人機等關鍵新技術上的競爭力確實超過了美國。

Both governments see their countries' dependence on Taiwanese manufacturing as a national security threat, and both have launched programs to eat away at Taiwan's market share.

兩國政府都將本國對臺灣製造業的依賴視為對國家安全的威脅，並都啟動了蠶食臺灣市場份額的計劃。

China does this in their typical way, by throwing billions at it.

中國的典型做法是投入數十億美元。

The crown jewel which has come out of this spending is SMIC, the Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corporation.

中芯國際集成電路製造有限公司（SMIC）就是這筆開支中的佼佼者。

Although they don't have access to the cutting-edge technology which makes TSMC so competitive, they have become the world's third-largest foundry, focusing on 28nm processes and above.

雖然他們無法獲得使臺積電如此具有競爭力的尖端技術，但他們已成為全球第三大晶圓代工廠，專注於 28 納米及以上工藝。

From 2022 all the way to their last week in office, the Biden administration had banned waves of the newest chips to China, including NVIDIA's Ampere and Hopper GPUs, which have become the world's favorite processors to train AI on.

從 2022 年一直到他們上任的最後一週，拜登政府都禁止向中國出口最新的芯片，其中包括英偉達的 Ampere 和 Hopper GPU，它們已成為世界上最受歡迎的人工智能訓練處理器。

They've also imposed caps on third countries to limit the effects of chip smuggling in Chinese black markets.

他們還對第三國規定了上限，以限制中國黑市走私芯片的影響。

Since 2023, ASML has also banned the export of EUV machines, and Japan has banned the export of 23 types of manufacturing equipment to China.

自 2023 年起，ASML 也禁止出口 EUV 機器，日本禁止向中國出口 23 種製造設備。

Meanwhile, Biden had been pursuing a China-like policy, also throwing billions at the chip problem.

與此同時，拜登一直在推行類似中國的政策，也在芯片問題上投入了數十億美元。

While Trump thinks a more market-based approach enticing companies to migrate using tariffs is what's needed to spur investment, either way, investment has come in both administrations.

雖然特朗普認為，利用關稅吸引企業遷移是刺激投資所需的更市場化的方法，但無論如何，兩屆政府都帶來了投資。

That Phoenix facility mentioned earlier is the single largest foreign investment in American history, totaling $165 billion across its campus.

前面提到的鳳凰城設施是美國曆史上最大的一筆外國投資，整個園區總投資達 1,650 億美元。

This will make TSMC's advanced chips down to 5nm processes in the continental United States.

這將使臺積電的先進芯片在美國本土達到 5 納米工藝。