TSMC (Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co.) confirmed what the signals in the industry were already showing, namely that the problems with the supply of microprocessors essential to electronic devices of all kinds are far from being solved.
Graphic accelerators, cars, smartphones and even home appliances will continue to be produced in lower stocks than market demand, leading to problems with store availability and inflated prices.
Good news only for the company in question, TSMC is already working at full capacity, and even the production volume is pre-contracted in advance, the only obstacle to maximizing profits being the impossibility of timely expansion of production capacity. For the rest of the world, long waiting lists for the delivery of essential microprocessors translate into massive losses (eg in the automotive industry) and less high-tech electronics in store stocks.
TSMC officials said in their latest investor bulletin that they do not anticipate resolving supply chain problems earlier than 2023, which is the current deadline for completing current operations to expand production capacity.
Affected direct TSMC customers include leading companies such as Apple, Nvidia, Broadcom and Qualcomm.
Holder of the most advanced manufacturing methods available in the semiconductor industry, TSMC is a leading supplier of 7nm chips (eg used for the AMD Ryzen range of processors). In the first quarter of 2021, 45% of TSMC’s revenues came from customers in the smartphone industry, and 35% from companies operating in the field of high-performance processing solutions.
According to Bloomberg, TSMC will invest over $ 30 billion in the next period in expanding production capacity. The problem is that the installation of new equipment and the improvement of existing ones is an extremely complex and time-consuming process, which can take months and even years to achieve concrete results.
Robert J. Smith is still early into his career as tech reporter but has already had his work published in many major publications including JoyStiq and Android Authority. In regards to academics, Robert earned a degree in business from Fordham University. Robert has passion for emerging technology and covers upcoming products and breakthroughs in science and tech.
