According to foreign media reports, Taiwan Integrated Circuit Manufacturing Co., Ltd. ((Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co., for short: TSMC) plans to spend US $100 billion to expand its chip manufacturing capacity in the next three years, a shocking investment commitment aimed at meeting the growing market demand for new technologies.
TSMC, the world's leading manufacturer of advanced semiconductors, had planned to spend a record $28 billion on capital expenditure this year, but recent trends and developments have required it to further expand capacity. Taiwan's largest company has pledged to work with customers in various industries to meet demand amid the global chip supply crisis.
"TSMC expects to invest US $100 billion over the next three years to increase production capacity and support the manufacture and research and development of advanced semiconductor technologies," TSMC said in a statement in response to local media reports. TSMC is working closely with customers to meet their needs in a sustainable manner. "
Affected by the news, the share prices of TSMC suppliers soared, Tokyo Electronics (Tokyo Electron Ltd.) 4.2% increase in Personality screen Holdings Co. Up 6.3%. TSMC's own share price rose 2% that day.
From (Apple Inc.) of Apple and (Qualcomm Inc.) of Qualcomm To (Nvidia Corp.) of Nvidia And advanced micro-device company (Advanced Micro Devices Inc.), TSMC is the world's most popular semiconductor contract manufacturer, that is, the production of chips designed by others. Almost every modern electronic product, from smartphones to smart refrigerators to connected cars, uses the company's silicon.
In a letter to customers, C.C. Wei, TSMC's chief executive, wrote that the company's fab had "utilized more than 100 per cent of its capacity in the past 12 months" but was still in short supply. Thousands of new employees are being recruited, a number of new factories are under construction, and TSMC will suspend wafer price cuts for a year from 2022, he added.
TSMC's US rival Intel announced in March that it plans to invest $20 billion to build two new plants in Arizona to compete directly with TSMC in making chips for other companies. South Korea's Samsung Electronics will also spend more than $100 billion to expand its semiconductor business within a decade.
The chip shortage has hit carmakers particularly hard, with revenue losses expected to exceed $60 billion this year. Ford Motor Company has just said it will suspend production at two plants that produce the best-selling Fmur150 pickup trucks. F-series trucks are Ford's most profitable products, and any production loss will directly affect the company's profits.
