[News] CoWoS Production Shortage, TSMC Expects Capacity Will Catch Up in 1.5 Years

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According to Taiwan’s Economic Daily, TSMC Chairman Mark Liu stated on 9/6 that semiconductor technology development “has reached the exit of the tunnel, and there are more possibilities beyond the tunnel; we are no longer bound by the tunnel.”

Regarding TSMC’s progress in establishing a factory in the United States, Liu mentioned that this project has received support from the local government and has made significant progress in recent months. He added, “We will certainly make it very successful.”

As for the recent shortage of chips caused by generative AI, Liu noted that it is not due to TSMC’s manufacturing capacity but rather the sudden threefold increase in CoWoS (Chip-on-Wafer-on-Substrate) demand. TSMC will continue to support the demand in the short term but cannot immediately ramp up production. Liu estimated that TSMC’s capacity will catch up with customer demand in about a year and a half, considering the capacity bottleneck as a short-term phenomenon.

Regarding SoftBank Group’s subsidiary, Arm, planning an initial public offering (IPO) to raise funds, Liu also revealed that they are evaluating whether to become an investor in Arm, with a decision expected in the next one or two weeks. He emphasized Arm’s importance within the semiconductor ecosystem, expressing TSMC’s desire for a successful Arm IPO.