Company: TSEM
Filing Date: 2025-04-30
Form Type: 20-F
Source: 0001178913-25-001537
Chunk: 144

Company: TOWER SEMICONDUCTOR LTD
Filing Date: 2025-04-30
Form: 20-F
Item: Item 4
Chunk 144
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 DongBu, X-Fab, and Hua Hong Semiconductor. We also compete in some areas with pure-play advanced technology node-driven foundry service providers such as Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Corporation (TSMC), United Microelectronics Corporation (UMC), and Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corp. (SMIC). These three pure-play semiconductor foundries primarily compete against one another and focus on 12-inch deep-submicron CMOS processing, though they each also have technology and capacity for specialty process technologies.
 
The rest of the foundry industry, including existing Chinese, Korean and Malaysian foundries, generally target either industry-standard 8-inch CMOS processing or specialty process technologies. Most competitors, particularly those based in the Asia-Pacific region, benefit from their proximity to key markets and, in some cases, from local government incentives and the integrated design and manufacturing ecosystems prevalent in these areas. However, global efforts to diversify semiconductor manufacturing bases are beginning to challenge this dynamic, signaling a shift towards a more geographically dispersed competitive landscape.
 
Geopolitical factors and trade policies can significantly impact the semiconductor industry. Restrictions, trade tensions, and policies promoting domestic employment and wafer manufacturing can influence foundries’ financials, business operations, and competitive positioning.
 
The principal elements of competition in the wafer foundry market are:
 

•   technology offering and future roadmap based on research and development capabilities and access to intellectual property;
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•   devices performance;
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•   product development kits (PDKs) with accurate modeling.
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•   system level technical expertise;
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•   customer technical support;
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•   design services;
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•   operational performance;
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•   quality systems;
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•   wafer quality;
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•   operational yields;
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•   pricing;
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•   strategic customer relationships;
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•   capacity availability; and
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•   stability and reliability of supply.
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Some of our competitors, particularly the advanced pure-play technology node-driven foundry service providers, have greater capacity, may have greater scope and/or greater research and development resources, a better cost structure, and greater financial, marketing and other resources. As a result, these companies may be able to compete more aggressively and over a longer period than us.
 
We aim to compete primarily on the basis of advanced specialty analog/mixed-signal technology, research and development, breadth of process offerings, production quality, technical support, and our design and engineering services. Our highly differentiated specialty offering and