Dr. Morris Chang

And I just thought to myself, it wouldn't be just an ordinary vice president. Yeah, so. Because, you know, there was no reason for to just bring any Apple vice president to my home. It must be something special. It must be someone special for TSMC. All right, so Jeff Williams came. He was not just a vice president. He was the chief operating officer of Apple.

And I just thought to myself, it wouldn't be just an ordinary vice president. Yeah, so. Because, you know, there was no reason for to just bring any Apple vice president to my home. It must be something special. It must be someone special for TSMC. All right, so Jeff Williams came. He was not just a vice president. He was the chief operating officer of Apple.

And Jeff was a pretty straightforward person. He didn't spend much time in ordinary chit chats.

And Jeff was a pretty straightforward person. He didn't spend much time in ordinary chit chats.

It wasn't, but it wasn't formal either. You know, uh, my, my wife, Sophie just added, and we, we, we have a cook, you know, we, we had a cook, uh, and, uh, pretty good cook. Uh, uh, so, uh, Sophie just told the cook to add a few dishes, uh, She's a Chinese cook. She doesn't do any Western food. And, you know, Terry obviously, she grew up on Chinese food.

It wasn't, but it wasn't formal either. You know, uh, my, my wife, Sophie just added, and we, we, we have a cook, you know, we, we had a cook, uh, and, uh, pretty good cook. Uh, uh, so, uh, Sophie just told the cook to add a few dishes, uh, She's a Chinese cook. She doesn't do any Western food. And, you know, Terry obviously, she grew up on Chinese food.

And I would imagine that the apple guy that he bought would also like Chinese food. Anyway, so she just asked the cook to cook a few more dishes But, you know, it wasn't important. The food was not important. Either the quantity or the quality was not important. Because almost Jeff almost immediately started his pitch, you know. Almost as soon as he sat down to dinner.

And I would imagine that the apple guy that he bought would also like Chinese food. Anyway, so she just asked the cook to cook a few more dishes But, you know, it wasn't important. The food was not important. Either the quantity or the quality was not important. Because almost Jeff almost immediately started his pitch, you know. Almost as soon as he sat down to dinner.

would like you to foundry our waivers." Something like that, pretty straightforward. I mean, so I listened. That night, I think Jeff talked to Maybe 80%, and I talked 20%. If you don't count the relative-to-relative talk between Sophie and Terry, which was not very much either.

would like you to foundry our waivers." Something like that, pretty straightforward. I mean, so I listened. That night, I think Jeff talked to Maybe 80%, and I talked 20%. If you don't count the relative-to-relative talk between Sophie and Terry, which was not very much either.

No, nothing so concrete. Okay. He just said that we would let you have 40% gross margin. And I think, I didn't say anything. I didn't answer him. I didn't respond to that. But our margin at that time was already 45%. And I was trying to put it up to 50%. It was an announced effort in the company to push the gross margin. And I had that effort for many years after I came back to be the CEO.

No, nothing so concrete. Okay. He just said that we would let you have 40% gross margin. And I think, I didn't say anything. I didn't answer him. I didn't respond to that. But our margin at that time was already 45%. And I was trying to put it up to 50%. It was an announced effort in the company to push the gross margin. And I had that effort for many years after I came back to be the CEO.

And I really didn't even succeed even at my retirement. Now, of course, what happened later was that there was COVID and so on. And also, we began to have leadership, technology leadership. So, our margin, you know. jumped up to over 50%. But when I retired, I was still short of 50%, slightly short of 50%. I was almost there when I retired.

And I really didn't even succeed even at my retirement. Now, of course, what happened later was that there was COVID and so on. And also, we began to have leadership, technology leadership. So, our margin, you know. jumped up to over 50%. But when I retired, I was still short of 50%, slightly short of 50%. I was almost there when I retired.

I think when you said that, you were neglecting Intel. Yeah. At 28 nanometers, we were very definitely the leader among foundries. Yeah. And maybe among a few other companies, such as Texas Instruments and so on. But not Intel, okay.

I think when you said that, you were neglecting Intel. Yeah. At 28 nanometers, we were very definitely the leader among foundries. Yeah. And maybe among a few other companies, such as Texas Instruments and so on. But not Intel, okay.

No, Apple... was not actively considering Intel. That came later. But I'm quite sure we'll have time to cover that.

No, Apple... was not actively considering Intel. That came later. But I'm quite sure we'll have time to cover that.

Yeah. He said that he would let us at 40%. And my thought was, my goodness, we're already at 45%. But I also thought that he was trying to be generous when he said that he would let us have 40%. And I also thought to myself, well, now it's not this dinner. It's not the time to go into a pricing discussion. We have a lot of other things to discuss.

Yeah. He said that he would let us at 40%. And my thought was, my goodness, we're already at 45%. But I also thought that he was trying to be generous when he said that he would let us have 40%. And I also thought to myself, well, now it's not this dinner. It's not the time to go into a pricing discussion. We have a lot of other things to discuss.