The world of semiconductor manufacturing has seen upheavals both before and during the pandemic. Whether it be weather related, a random power outage, or global supply shortages, there’s no end to factors affecting the industry. Due to all of these factors, TSMC and other manufacturers have announced there will be price hikes, along with delayed orders, in 2022.
TSMC previously announced it would be raising prices by roughly 10 percent for its 7 nm or thinner nodes, but some increases could be as high as 20 percent for its larger 16 nm processes. Lead times will grow to 4 to 5 months due to shortages. As a lead supplier for Apple and Intel, the long-term effects of these changes remains to be seen for others seeking products from TSMC. Recent rumors have pointed to NVIDIA sourcing GPUs for its GeForce RTX 40 Series graphics cards from the manufacturer.
Notebook, server component, desktop, and monitor manufacturers are all announcing similar news. Wistron has stated 8.9 percent lower year-on-year revenue. Inventect also posted a 22.7 percent year-on-year loss, but both companies reported record sales during various months over the last year along with shipment growths. Both have cited component shortages as a cause for their inability to meet order demands, and for order delays. Numerous other companies have also reported similar gains and monthly highs, but overall losses.
With delivery lead times at TSMC extended to 4-5 months, Taiwan’s first-tier IC design houses have notified customers about further price hikes for their chip solutions starting the first quarter of 2022, according to industry sources.
Sources: DigiTimes (1, 2), Tom’s Hardware, Tapei Times