TSMC could make chips produced in its factories outside Taiwan more expensive. And it’s important, because it will affect the consumer!
When we talk about high-level chips, such as those that equip the latest trendy smartphones like the iPhone 15 Pro, the founder TSMC is an inevitable player. A status which allows it to impose a certain number of conditions, when the need arises. And this is what could well happen for the price of semiconductors produced outside factories installed on Taiwanese territory.
More expensive chips for sites outside Taiwan
TSMC is a major semiconductor giant, with the group alone accounting for around half of the global foundry market. But although it has been a player in the sector for a long time, until recently TSMC produced a very large part of its products in Taiwan.
A situation which tends to change a little, since the group is building a factory in Germany, already has an operational unit in Arizona, in the United States, and has just benefited in the same country under the CHIPS Act of 6.6 billion dollars in government subsidies to install new manufacturing lines across the Atlantic.
However, production costs tend to be higher abroad than in Taiwan, an increase that TSMC does not want to bear alone. “ If a customer requests to be in a certain geographic area, they must split the cost difference » indicates the boss of TSMC, CC Wei.
Discussions already underway
And these are not empty words, since according to the Financial Times, discussions would already take place with the various economic partners of TSMC. The question is all the more important since, due to the geopolitical dangers that the situation between Taiwan and China entails, there is more and more international pressure to relocate part of the group’s production outside the island.
However, if these price increases were ultimately to be accepted, it could well be that the consumer would ultimately also be out of pocket. Because, as a reminder, beyond Apple, all the big names in chips, from Nvidia to Intel and AMD, work with TSMC. Big names that equip all our electronic devices. Will you see a little more inflation again?
Source : Engadget
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