TSMC says it has discussed moving fabs out of Taiwan but such a move impossible
- TSMC chairman C.C. Wei said it would be impossible to move chip factories, given that 80 to 90 per cent of its production capacity is in Taiwan
- The contract chip maker is grappling with surging orders for high-end chips to power generative artificial intelligence tools and services
Taiwanese contract chip maker TSMC, whose major clients include Nvidia and Apple, said on Tuesday it had held talks with some customers about moving its chip plants off the island as tensions mounted with China but such a move would be impossible.
Tensions between China and Taiwan have increased sharply since Beijing launched war games around the democratically governed island last month following inauguration of Taiwan President Lai Ching-te, who Beijing denounces as a “separatist”.
“Instability across the Taiwan Strait is indeed a consideration for supply chain, but I want to say that we certainly do not want wars to happen,” Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC) Chairman C.C. Wei told reporters after the company’s annual general meeting.
He said it would be impossible to move chip factories out of the island, given that 80 to 90 per cent of its production capacity is in Taiwan.
Wei did not name the customers with whom TSMC had held talks on the potential shift out of Taiwan.
TSMC, which is grappling with surging orders for high-end chips used to offer generative artificial intelligence tools and services, had discussions with ChatGPT creator OpenAI over AI chip supplies, which the Taiwanese firm considered “too aggressive”, Wei said, without elaborating.
