TSMC warns of chip shortages
- TSMC plans roughly $56 billion in 2026 capex but warns AI‑chip shortages could persist into 2027 and beyond. - The company's CEO reportedly said demand will outstrip supply despite the big investment. - That reinforces the reality that compute scarcity remains a strategic constraint for AI product planning and cost forecasting (wccftech.com).
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. says it will spend as much as $56 billion in 2026, but still expects artificial intelligence chip shortages to last into 2027. (investor.tsmc.com) (thestar.com.my) The company lifted its 2026 capital spending plan to a range of $52 billion to $56 billion in January, then reported on April 16 that first-quarter revenue reached $35.90 billion and second-quarter revenue should land between $39.0 billion and $40.2 billion. (datacenterdynamics.com) (investor.tsmc.com) Chief executive C.C. Wei said on the April earnings call that artificial-intelligence demand remained “extremely robust,” and Reuters reported the company pledged more spending to meet that demand. (cnbc.com) (thestar.com.my) TSMC sits at the center of the artificial-intelligence hardware chain because it manufactures the advanced processors designed by Nvidia, Advanced Micro Devices, Apple and other chip firms. In the first quarter, advanced chips accounted for about 75% of TSMC’s total wafer revenue. (cnbc.com) The bottleneck is not only wafer output. CNBC reported on April 8 that Nvidia had reserved most of TSMC’s most advanced chip-packaging capacity, a step that mounts raw chips into usable systems and has become a separate constraint. (cnbc.com) TSMC is adding capacity in Taiwan and the United States, but new plants take years to matter. TSMC says its second Arizona fab is targeted for volume production in the second half of 2027, while its first Arizona fab started high-volume production in the fourth quarter of 2024. (tsmc.com) The company has also told investors that newer manufacturing nodes cost more to build. TSMC finance chief Wendell Huang said in January that the capital needed for 2-nanometer capacity is “substantially higher” than for 3-nanometer capacity, with 1.4-nanometer expected to cost even more. (datacenterdynamics.com) Analysts have been warning for months that demand at the leading edge is running ahead of supply. EE Times reported in January that wafer demand at 5 nanometers and below could exceed capacity by 25% to 30% in 2026, with shortages likely to continue in 2027. (eetimes.com) TSMC’s own forecasts still point up, not down. The company told investors it now expects full-year 2026 revenue growth of more than 30% in U.S. dollar terms, even as it spends at a record pace to catch up. (cnbc.com)
