Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co., the biggest contract manufacturer of computer chips, reported that its quarterly profit rose 16.4% from the previous year to US$6 billion (via AP).
TSMC Quarterly Profits in 2021
In the last quarter (three months) of 2021 its revenue rose 21.2% to US$15.8 billion and US$6 billion in TSMC quarterly profits. With its headquarters in Hsinchu, Taiwan, TSMC makes processors for a number of companies such as Apple. Recent announcements from the company include:
- Plans to invest US$100 billion over the next three years in manufacturing and research and development
- Plans to build its first chip factory in Japan. TSMC and Sony Corp. said they would jointly invest US$7 billion in the facility
- Plans for a second production site in the U.S. located in Arizona
TSMC has a a semiconductor wafer fabrication facility in Camas, Washington, and design centers in San Jose, California, and Austin, Texas. The company will spend US$12 billion for its Arizona factor with a goal of producing 20,000 silicon wafers per month at the 5-nanometer scale. That level of chip is the smallest, fastest, and energy efficient being manufactured today.
The company expects its capital expenditure to reach US$44 billion in 2020, a 32% increase from the US$30 billion in expenditure in 2021. TSMC aims to address competition from Samsung, another chipmaker, as well as Intel which announced [PDF] its own chip foundry in 2021. Intel Foundry Services would be a standalone business and fully vertical.
TSMC built a fabrication plant in southern Taiwan for 3-nanometer chips, as well as a new plant for production of 5-nanometer chips.