But there is real demand for cutting edge semiconductors in China... Do you think people will be satisfied with 14nm SMIC chips forever? Paying $140K salary is peanuts compared to what experienced software engineers at Facebook/Google get, their junior positions pays that much. Or hell $400K salaries at some financial firms.
Their semiconductor industry will not be solely made up of TSMC engineers, the vast majority are going to be Chinese juniors who will learn from them and eventually replace them.
The market reality is that the source of the chips can vanish at any time due to political reason, that's not a market problem anymore, it's now a political problem.
Their semiconductor industry will not be solely made up of TSMC engineers, the vast majority are going to be Chinese juniors who will learn from them and eventually replace them.