TSMC allegedly increases chip prices

Many companies are apparently set to pay more for their chips from TSMC from 2026. According to Taiwanese reports, the world's largest chip contract manufacturer wants to increase prices for numerous modern production processes by five to ten percent.

According to Digitimes from Taiwan, all manufacturing processes from the 5-nanometer generation onwards are affected, including 4, 3 and 2 nm. TSMC is said to be arguing the increase with uncertainty about US tariffs on semiconductors and the devaluation of the Taiwan dollar (NTD) against the US dollar.

Taiwan dollar falls

The fall in the exchange rate is likely to be the bigger issue for TSMC. From March 2025 to July, the NTD fell by 13 percent: one US dollar was worth NTD 33.19 at the end of March and only NTD 28.87 at the beginning of July. The USD exchange rate has since stabilized at 30.65 NTD. As TSMC's largest customers are from the USA and pay in US dollars, the margin falls when the exchange rate is weak.

The US government has so far only threatened to impose 100% tariffs on chips, but has not yet implemented them. For one thing, it is questionable how they could be implemented at all. The semiconductor industry is so interlinked that a chip can travel around the world in its production chain.

TSMC, for example, manufactures most of its chips in Taiwan, but packaging often takes place in other Asian countries such as Malaysia. This is where chips are placed on their carriers, which are necessary for use on circuit boards. Typically, chips only arrive in the USA with the final products. Apple, for example, has all the components of an iPhone manufactured and assembled abroad.

If the US government keeps its word and exempts companies from the tariffs that build in the USA themselves, TSMC would not be affected anyway: The manufacturer is building semiconductor plants worth 165 billion US dollars there.

Sales increase

Meanwhile, an estimate by market researchers at Trendforce shows that TSMC is currently the fastest growing chip contract manufacturer in the world. In the second quarter of 2025, the company generated a good 30 billion US dollars in sales – 18 percent more than at the beginning of the year. TSMC alone accounts for 70.2 percent of global sales among chip contract manufacturers. Samsung in second place is miles behind with 7.3 percent.

Recently, there have been increasing reports that companies are testing chips from Samsung's semiconductor plants in order to break away from TSMC. These are said to include AMD, Nvidia and Qualcomm.

(mma)