TSMC has announced, during the communication of its quarterly results for the last quarter of 2021, that in this year 2022 it will increase your investment by a third, to 44,000 million of dollars, compared to the 30,000 invested this year, with the aim of increasing its production capacity to meet the growing demand for chips. To this end, among other measures, TSMC is going to build several factories, in order to meet its fiscal objectives and also to promote new technologies, such as the manufacture of 3 nanometers.
Between 70% and 80% of this investment budget will go to advanced process technologies. Among them, those of 2, 3, 5 and 7 nanometers. This has been confirmed by the company’s CFO, Wendell Huang, who has also stated that 10% of the investment will go to advanced packaging, and between 10% and 20% to specific technologies, which he has not specified.
The company has also reported revenues in the last three months of the year that have reached 15,740 million dollars, 5.4% more than in the last three months of 2020, as well as profits in the period of 6,000 million dollars , 16.4% more. Throughout the year 2021, the TSMC revenue rose 24.9% year-on-year, to 56,820 million of dollars.
By divisions, the company’s main lines of income correspond to chips manufactured with 5 and 7 nanometer technologies. Revenue from its sales accounted for 23% of the company’s total revenue. Sales of processors with 7 nanometer technology reached 27% of the total. In total, between the chips of these two technologies they achieved half of TSMC’s revenues.
Smartphone chips accounted for 44% of the company’s total sales between October and December, while those for high-performance computing totaled 37%. Chips for the Internet of Things were 9% of total sales, while those for the automotive industry remained at 4%. Finally, those designed for digital consumer electronics represented 3% of the total sold.
TSMC, one of the major beneficiaries of the explosion in demand for chips that has led to not a few supply problems in a multitude of industrial sectors, expects the high demand for chips to continue in 2022, and estimates that its revenues in the quarter in course will rise again, to stay between 16,600 and 17,200 million dollars. The company has high hopes for the high performance computing (HPC) industry. Those responsible have already pointed to a start of production of chips with 3 nanometer technology this year, towards the second half of 2022, and they expect this to lead to HPC becoming their largest business segment.
