Meanwhile, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co, which supplies chips for Apple Inc’s iPhone 6 series, its Chairman also said that Intel Corp’s plan to acquire TSMC’s long-term customer Altera Corp would not significantly affect the Taiwanese chipmaker’s business.

In response to media’s question regarding the so-called red supply chain is threatening Taiwanese semiconductor industry, Morris Chang said that TSMC witnessed Chinese government proactively fostered local firms. “However, it’s not an easy job for them to catch up with Taiwan.”

Morris Chang considered though China has a lot of investment from its government and potential power in a bid to build the total supply chain, “these are not enough in semiconductor industry, because technologies count. If Taiwanese firms keep making progress in technologies, it wound’t be an easy job for them to catch up.”

Morris Chang suggested that Taiwanese semiconductor firms are a head of Chinese firms in downstream manufacturing services in assembly and test, along with upperstream advanced manufacturing.

However, Morris Chang confessed Chinese firms are doing well in upperstream IC design of wafer foundry. “But MediaTek is also doing good, which is a great company.”

Allegedly, the subsidiary of United Microelectronics Corporation(UMC) in Xiamen, China, held its 12-inch wafer fab groundbreaking ceremony last month. Morris Chang said that investing in China is a big issue that is still uder consideration. Currently, TSMC merely has a 9-inch wafer fab in Shanghai.