An individual familiar with TSMC's internal operations told Korean outlet Hankyung that constructing a semiconductor fabrication plant is straightforward when capital is available, but achieving high wafer yields is a far more demanding task. The comment came amid reporting that Elon Musk's Terafab project aims to produce chips using Intel's upcoming 14A manufacturing technology. Analyst Park Joon-yong of Hanwha Securities noted the facility's purpose extends beyond chip production to building an end-to-end supply chain for applications ranging from autonomous vehicles to space systems. Park suggested Intel's manufacturing expertise could accelerate Tesla and SpaceX's development timeline compared to building processes from scratch. A Samsung official countered that mastery of chip fabrication requires decades of iterative learning, citing the complexity of fine-tuning equipment to meet mass production standards. The official referenced industry experience showing yield stabilization often takes 30 years, with even minor deviations in process timing or circuit design causing significant output losses. Another source with knowledge of TSMC's operations emphasized that while erecting a fab may be technically achievable, maintaining consistent, defect-free production demands continuous precision across thousands of process steps. The individual stated that semiconductor advancement hinges on shrinking circuit sizes incrementally, where a single flaw or timing discrepancy can compromise entire batches. These technical hurdles, they argued, present greater obstacles than space launch endeavors, as yield instability directly impacts the viability of commercial chip manufacturing at scale.