The chip manufacturer TSMC (Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co.) can only partially meet the demand for its products. The reason is the enormous demand for hardware for artificial intelligence (AI). Therefore, TSMC is investing in new production facilities, both on the island and abroad. However, this does not work overnight. “It will take a long time before we can meet our customers’ demand,” said TSMC CEO Che-Chia Wei at his shareholders meeting in the city of Hsinchu on Thursday (local time).
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On the one hand, TSMC is ramping up its semiconductor factory in the US state of Arizona, and on the other hand, it is utilizing all existing factories as best as possible. This visibly increases the production volume: the company exposed 3.3 million wafers in the first quarter of 2025, almost four million in the final quarter of the year and almost 4.3 million in the first quarter of 2026. These are 300 mm wafers or their equivalent, converted from the output of old production lines with 200 mm wafers.
TSMC is the largest company in Taiwan and produces on behalf of numerous customers. Apple has been the largest buyer so far, but Nvidia is likely to become the most important customer this year. Competitor AMD also has AI chips manufactured by TSMC. Its management expects sales for the current year to be more than 30 percent higher than in 2025.
When demand is extreme, extreme price increases are inevitable. But Wei rejects such a thing. According to Bloomberg, stable business development is his priority, the CEO told his shareholders. TSMC’s latest quarterly figures show increased margins, which suggests higher prices, but not the enormous price jumps that characterize the market for memory, for example. Operators of AI data centers also buy this up in advance. TSMC shares have gained around 38 percent since the beginning of the year, and their price has more than doubled year-on-year.
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