Taiwanese chipmaking giant TSMC is hiking prices on its chips by up to 20 per cent amid the global semiconductor shortage, a move which could drive up prices on consumer products.
TSMC – which holds 55 per cent of the chip fabrication market and boasts among its clients big companies like AMD, Arm, Apple, MediaTek, and Nvidia – has increased production in an attempt to beat back the semiconductor drought, while also raising its prices.
According to Nikkei Asia, the price increases across the chipmaking sector stem from increased costs of both raw materials and logistics, though TSMC is also seeking to crack down on the practice of “double booking”, where clients order more chips than they need in order to lock down space on production lines.
Clients told Nikkei that this is TSMC’s biggest price increase in a decade, though some have expressed approval of the move as a means of reducing double booking.
TSMC has promised to invest $100 billion USD in spending to meet the high demand.
