Seems starting with moving the most modern lines out of harms way, and building all new lines not on Taiwan, they would soon reach a state where what is left behind is multiple generations old, so worth far less
Certainly a good idea even if moving nothing, to also build nothing new within China's reach.
Isn't that how a fab gets built? Equipment is moved to the site and assembled? Seems it would be more expensive due to needing to disassemble plus you'd be offline a fab.
Yes, of course moving would be an extra expense and involve downtime. This would be weighed against the risk of losing it all due to CCP invading, either through destruction or just being seized.
[Total Equip Loss Cost] * [Probability of Loss]
vs
[Additional Cost of Moving] + [Additional Cost of Downtime]
Seems starting with moving the most modern lines out of harms way, and building all new lines not on Taiwan, they would soon reach a state where what is left behind is multiple generations old, so worth far less
Certainly a good idea even if moving nothing, to also build nothing new within China's reach.