TSMC's Q2 revenue rises 20% as demand for chips soar in face of shortage

The company responsible for the manufacturing of the chips designed and used by Apple as well as other tech and automobile firms, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC), just reported a 20% increase in revenue for the company's second quarter. For the period that ended in June, TSMC took in NT$372.1 billion ($13.3 billion USD). Most analysts expected NT$371.3 billion for the three-months.

For just the month of June, the foundry reported a 23% boost in revenue to NT$148.5 billion. According to Bloomberg, Citi analysts wrote in a note that the chip shortage is improving TSMC's pricing allowing the firm to make up for the money it is spending on new factories including the $12 billion facility being built in Phoenix, Arizona. And the firm's technological breakthrough in EUV (extreme ultraviolet lithography) gives it a huge advantage over its peers. EUV lithography uses ultraviolet waves to mark up wafers with circuit patterns for the placement of transistors.

Thanks to the pandemic, there has been a serious chip shortage affecting the availability of chips for smartphones, tablets, and automobiles. Earlier this week, vehicle producers Daimler AG and Jaguar Land Rover said that their production will be hampered by the chip shortage. We're talking about some serious numbers here as Jaguar Land Rover said that their deliveries in the second quarter will be half the amount previously expected.

United Microelectronics Corp., a smaller foundry than TSMC (which is the world's largest), said that chip demand could remain ahead of supply until 2023. That is good news for companies such as TSMC which reportedly has started production on the sequel to Apple's most powerful chip, the M1. The latter, produced using TSMC's 5nm process node, is packed with a whopping 16 billion transistors and is used on devices like the Mac and the iPad Pro (2021).

Last month we passed along the rumor that TSMC plans on starting risk production of 4nm chips next quarter. The next big change is expected to take place next year when TSMC starts volume production of chips using its 3nm process node.