I am surprised it took so long for discussion around mergers/acquisitions with Taiwan’s #2 and 3# (there is another foundry smaller UMC in Taiwan) foundries to appear in the news.

The combined company would later invest in research and development in the U.S. and could eventually become an alternative to Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co., the world’s top chipmaker, according to the assessment. TSMC holds significant shares in the markets for both mature and cutting-edge chips.

Eventually become an alternative to TSMC? A rather bold goal.