Just in:
Taiwan to return conscription to 12mths from 4mths (had been 12mths year ago)
Boost conscript pay 3x

It’s one step to show resolve, but may fall short

1/ focustaiwan.tw/politics/20221… 2/
Length of Taiwan military service isn’t the only issue. Bigger problems at play, including:
Quality of training, equipment, & leadership. They barely fire a rifle, and aren’t well utilized post-bootcamp. Conscripts generally see it as a waste of time.

1/
Stricter controls on China's access to chip technology is Washington taking a tougher stance against a growing rival. They follow the CHIPS Act, aimed at boosting the US.
But recent new rules needn't stop China dead in its tracks to be successful
bloomberg.com/opinion/articl… 2/
Already, Washington rules have effectively cut off TSMC from Chinese expansion, and forced the world's best chipmaker to turn its attention to the US. That's a powerful move, ensuring that TSMC is no longer "everybody's foundry."

bloomberg.com/opinion/articl…

Just in:
Taiwanese businessman Robert Tsao just announced plans to train 3 million “civilian warriors” in 3 years
And, 300k expert marksmen.
He’s kickstarting the program with NT$1 bn ($33m) of his own money Bob Tsao has an interesting history.
In 2001, chipmaker UMC was caught investing in a Chinese rival, breaching Taiwan laws on China investments.
Tsao was chairman of UMC, and faced criminal charges.

🧵
1/Everyone knows Foxconn as the company that makes your iPhone. In fact, they've made (in my estimate) over 85% of all iPhones ever shipped.
But before the iPhone, even before the iPod, Foxconn was a major player in electronics. Just not in the way you now know ... 2/
In the mid-90s, when Steve Jobs was on "hiatus" from the company he founded, Foxconn had margins 3x wider than Apple's.
Sure, Apple was in a funk and its gross margin is now 7x the level of 1996.
But Foxconn was had much fatter margins than it does today. The reason: iPhone

1/
A Chinese economist highlights the paranoia felt by many in China.

“They are speeding up the transfer to the US to build six factories there,” she added. “We must not let all the goals of the transfer be achieved.”

bloomberg.com/news/articles/… 2/
Telling about this militant, aggressive stance is that it betrays an underlying sentiment that China itself cannot catch up to Taiwan’s TSMC, nor possibly the US.

TSMC!

This company is off like a rocket 🚀

1Q Net income was NT$202.7b. Another record high, and beating even the most bullish of estimates.

Gross margin was a record high 55.6% As usual, TSMC's growth is driven by advanced nodes. Curiously, its MOST advanced (5nm) dropped a little in 1Q. No biggie, we're in low season for iPhone.

BUT, this tells us something super interesting about pricing....

1/
18 years ago today, the DPP's Chen Shui-bian won re-election as Taiwan president. It was a closely-fought battle against Lien Chan, who was joined on the ticket by James Soong. Lien & Soong split the vote 4 years earlier, letting Chen win the first-past-the-post ballot 2/
I was at DPP HQ that night, and there was great shock among party leaders when Lien refused to concede, instead contesting the result.
It was extremely close. Chen's margin was just 0.22% (v 2.5% in 2000).
Chief complaint from Lien's camp was what happened just a day earlier

Foxconn’s Hon Hai Tech Day has arrived. And it’s all about EVs

The company’s EVs are expected to be unveiled today in Taipei. This mock up of its EV platform shows that Foxconn’s vehicle plans are as much about components as end product

🧵
1/ There's a lot of hunger for information about TSMC, what they do, and how the business operates.
So I put together
Ten Charts That Tell The TSMC Tale
bloomberg.com/opinion/articl… 2/
We often think of TSMC output always rising. Certainly revenue *usually* rises, but actual shipments often stagnates or even declines

Damn. Real big quake being felt in Taipei. We was warned .. quite a few mins prior

1/
After senior adviser Bruce Aylward was dodged the topic of Taiwan, the @WHO claimed "the WHO Secretariat works with Taiwanese health experts and authorities."
Note, it didn't even dare to put the word "Taiwan" in the headline of its statement
who.int/news-room/deta… 2/
Taiwan's @MOFA_Taiwan responded to the @who claims with its own statement.
bloomberg.com/news/articles/…

1/
So. About this @icao blocking Taiwan issue.
I’ve been following it with an open mind, hearing from both sides. After going through it all, I have come to *my* conclusion.
This is my *opinion*. Some won’t agree or like it. But so be it. Please be patient .. @icao 2/
As you know, I have natural sympathy for Taiwan.
But many may not know that I covered SARS in 2003 & have those memories etched in my mind.
I’ve also covered 3x plane crashes and am a licensed pilot #AvGeek. I’m also a big fan of the @icao and its goals

THREAD
China yesterday made the sudden move to ban individual mainland tourists to Taiwan starting today. It cited "the current state of cross-strait relations."
People see this as a disaster for Taiwan's economy.
But not so fast..
bloomberg.com/opinion/articl… China severely cut the flow of visitors to Taiwan after Tsai Ing-wen's @iingwen 2016 election.
Taipei responded by easing rules on SEA travelers.
Further, the reduced flow of mainland visitors is offset by more Japan, Korea tourists wishing to visit.
Now: Japan + Korea > Mainland

Thread:
History is being made right now inside this dowdy building on the edge of Taipei.
That’s the global HQ of the company which makes your iPhone, iPad, Xbox, PS4, laptop, router, TV, and most everything else.
And yet, for the first time, Foxconn is holding an IR conference Foxconn is the world’s largest electronics assembler.
It’s the world’s largest private employer of full-time workers.
It’s the largest exporter of Chinese-made goods.
It’s Taiwan’s second-largest listed company.
Its founder & Chairman Terry Gou is Taiwan’s third-richest

Thread:
TSMC’s disastrous outlook today ties together a lot of the concerns I’ve had about the tech industry over the past six months.
Here’s a collection of my thoughts, not as a victory lap, but to show how there’s been so many signs if only people stopped to look When I ran the numbers back in August, I didn’t know what I’d find. I was actually just playing around with spreadsheets and doing a bit of trend-spotting.
What I found surprised me. I had no idea things had ballooned so much!

bloomberg.com/opinion/articl…