The world’s largest chipmaker has signaled that rising costs may force it to increase prices for the chips that power consumer devices and AI infrastructure.
Speaking to the BBC, TSMC CFO Wendell Huang confirmed that inflation is driving up the company’s costs and did not rule out passing those increases on to customers. He stopped short of committing to sudden dramatic increases, saying the company would not impose “fourfold, fivefold” price rises. TSMC chairman and CEO CC Wei separately told shareholders the same day that he would “like” to raise prices, as competitors have already done.
Why this matters for you
TSMC manufactures the chips inside virtually every major consumer device. Apple, Nvidia, and AMD all rely on the company’s fabrication plants to produce their most advanced silicon, meaning any increase in chip production costs can travel down the supply chain to the phones, laptops, and AI services that you buy.
TSMC holds a dominant position in the global chip market. Taiwan produces the majority of the world’s most advanced chips, and TSMC sits at the center of escalating US-China trade tensions, with Washington pressing chipmakers to expand production domestically to secure supply chains.
What’s driving the cost up
Huang told the BBC that inflation is the primary culprit, pushing up the cost of doing business across the company’s operations. TSMC is also spending heavily to expand manufacturing beyond Taiwan, committing $165 billion to its Arizona operations alone, with additional plants under construction in Germany and Japan.
Huang acknowledged that moving the full manufacturing ecosystem to the US would take “five or 10 years, or even longer,” suggesting the cost pressures from that expansion won’t be going away soon.