I think it's weird that most of the IP is developed and owned by US companies, yet everything is being built overseas. Of course I'm talking about core chips, like CPUs, SoC, RAM, flash memory, etc.
I don't really understand why Taiwan has so many of those chip factories. I can understand why developing countries like China have been assembling electronic devices for so long, because the labor is cheap, but I don't think that chip making follows the same rule. Those generally are high tech factories, and I don't see why Taiwan has so many of them.
Because Taiwan recruited Morris Chang to help promote Taiwan's economy, and Morris Chang decided to found the first foundry (i.e. fab-only) in the world.
Ever since, TSMC has been more-or-less leading innovation in semiconductor manufacturing. Taiwan has a lot of high tech factories because it is a high tech country with smart people.
Taiwan has also put together a pretty dominant position in industrial automation, with companies like Hiwin making the robots and components that go into those factories. They also are very close to customers in Japan, Korea, and China.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Semiconductor_industry#/media/...
I don't really understand why Taiwan has so many of those chip factories. I can understand why developing countries like China have been assembling electronic devices for so long, because the labor is cheap, but I don't think that chip making follows the same rule. Those generally are high tech factories, and I don't see why Taiwan has so many of them.