Earthquake in Taiwan will affect TSMC’s investments, but not deliveries

Analyst firm TrendForce reports that the earthquake in Taiwan will hit the wallet of at least one chipmaker, but will not weaken the overall silicon supply chain, The Register writes.

We are talking about TSMC. According to analysts, the manufacturer got off lightly, with only its research and development headquarters sustaining significant damage.”

“The fab “suffered some water damage to equipment due to broken pipes, mainly affecting the not-yet-mass-produced 2nm process,” TrendForce explained.”

This is expected to have a short-term impact on operations. This may lead to the need to purchase new equipment, which will slightly increase capital expenditures, the company summarized.

TSMC’s CoWoS (Chip-on-wafer-on-substrate) fabs, including Longtan AP3 and Zhunan AP6, also suffered damage, though in the form of water damage to refrigeration units. They were able to resume operations thanks to backup units, TrendForce writes.

TrendForce also noted that earlier this week, the DRAM industry “suffered minimal initial damage.” This led memory suppliers to suspend price increases.

Micron’s fabs in Linkou and Taichung, which are internally interconnected, serve as critical DRAM production sites, where the latest 1 beta nm technology has already been implemented. Both fabs are expected to be fully restored within a few days, and further production, including HBM, will continue.

Earlier it was reported that TSMC halted production and evacuated staff due to the largest earthquake in Taiwan in 25 years. The emergency occurred on April 3.