adminTaiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. recorded its first quarterly revenue miss in two years, signaling the global decline in electronics demand is starting to catch up with the chip giant.
The shortfall suggests that even TSMC, with its technology and scale advantages, can’t escape a global slowdown in spending by consumers affected by rising interest rates and accelerating inflation. The world’s biggest contract manufacturer of chips last year reduced its capital spending plans by about 10 percent to $36 billion and some analysts have warned it may further delay expenditure on expansion in 2023.
TSMC, which is the exclusive supplier of Apple Inc.’s Silicon chips for iPhones and Macs, may also have been affected by problems at the US tech giant’s assembly operations in China. Apple was forced to trim output estimates after Covid-19-related chaos at a plant in Zhengzhou exposed vulnerabilities in the company’s supply chain.
Fourth-quarter revenue at TSMC rose 43 percent to NT$625,5 billion (US$20,6 billion), according to Bloomberg calculations based on monthly numbers reported by TSMC. That missed the NT$636 billion predicted by analysts on average. TSMC said its December sales advanced 24 percent to NT$192.6 billion
Shares of Hsinchu-based TSMC, Taiwan’s most valuable company, fell 27 percent last year — Bloomberg.
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