Qualcomm to reportedly leave Samsung and return to TSMC in 2022
We also have some other TSMC news to tell you about. To make chips, a foundry needs plenty of water. However, Taiwan is suffering through a drought right now and the forecasts call for more of the same for the months ahead. Taiwan Water Company is calling this “the toughest moment.” TSMC is ordering water by the truckload as the country widens its restrictions on water usage. Water levels are 20% below normal on the island after a lack of rain and the absence of a typhoon. Taiwan Economy Minister Wang Mei-hua told reporters yesterday, “We have planned for the worst. We hope companies can reduce water usage by 7% to 11%.”
Massive amounts of water are used in the production of chips. After each layer of semiconductors is added to a silicon wafer, the latter must be rinsed requiring the use of large amounts of water. To create an integrated circuit on a 12-inch wafer can require 2,200 gallons of water. Some of that water is Ultra Pure Water (UPW), thousands of times purer than drinking water. A Fab that processes 40,000 wafers each month can go through 4.8 million gallons of water each day. This equates to the annual water use for a city of 60,000 people.