> But I find an article that doesn't even address any other companies a little hard to swallow. Are other companies simply not able to "reshore" chip fabs?
I urge you to look at the earnings of some of the most popular chip manufacturers and then look at the earnings of apple (also ignore nvidia as it is an obvious outlier). Creating a modern chip fab takes A LOT of money and is simply impossible when some of the most popular semi companies struggle to even make a small profit. TSMC's fabless business model allows many chip companies to share the capital investment required, but apple just straight up has the money to make the investments but choose not too. Also it would be quite scary if apple is allowed that type of vertical integration.
It would also mean that Apple built a facility that will be outdated in 1-3 years. They'd end up falling behind and have to go back to TSMC or someone else to supply components or invest billions every year to build out improved fabrication facilities.
Certain kinds of vertical integration can last, but when a key part is a moving target (fab capabilities) or commodified then they are inherently time limited assuming any kind of competition (and there is plenty of competition in the PC and phone markets still).
It wouldn't be. People are just afraid of vertical integration because they equate it to vertical monopolies, when the fact of vertical integration does not itself mean that there is a vertical monopoly.
I urge you to look at the earnings of some of the most popular chip manufacturers and then look at the earnings of apple (also ignore nvidia as it is an obvious outlier). Creating a modern chip fab takes A LOT of money and is simply impossible when some of the most popular semi companies struggle to even make a small profit. TSMC's fabless business model allows many chip companies to share the capital investment required, but apple just straight up has the money to make the investments but choose not too. Also it would be quite scary if apple is allowed that type of vertical integration.