The chipmaker Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC), which supplies silicon to Apple, Qualcomm, and other tech heavyweights, aims to invest up to $44 billion in 2022 to expand its manufacturing capacity. The Taiwanese company said in its most recent earnings report that it expected capital investment to be between $40 and $44 billion in 2022, up from a previous high of $30 billion in 2021.
Given the company’s previously disclosed aim to spend $100 billion on expanding its production capacity through 2023, the hike isn’t wholly unexpected. Despite some expert warnings of future slowdowns in sectors such as smartphones, the Financial Times says that the record sum indicates it does not expect chip demand to drop down anytime soon.
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According to TSMC, any delays will be compensated for by the increased demand for high-performance silicon in new product categories such as automobiles and manufacturing equipment. “We see end-market demand slowing in terms of units, but silicon content growing,” said CC Wei, the company’s CEO, according to the Financial Times.
According to Nikkei Asia, TSMC predicts robust demand regardless of whether the global chip shortage persists, with Wei stating that it “may or may not endure” in 2022. Overall chip manufacturing revenue is expected to climb 20% this year, but TSMC is expected to outperform with revenue growth in the high 20% range. Last year, its earnings increased by 25%.
Even as one of its customers, Intel, begins to compete with TSMC’s contract chip manufacturing sector under new CEO Pat Gelsinger, the company expects to grow.
Huge chip demand, as well as a chip scarcity, have helped cement TSMC’s position as one of the world’s largest and most important firms. And it doesn’t appear that this will alter with its ambitious expansion plans, which include new operations in Arizona and Japan.
