Since the second half of last year, due to the decline in demand for consumer electronics products, the chip industry has also entered the “winter”, many manufacturers have been affected, Samsung Electronics, SK Hynix and other memory chip manufacturers, especially obvious.
Likewise, holding Apple, Nvidia, AMD and many other manufacturers orders of the foundry TSMC has also been affected, their revenue in the first quarter on a significant decline in the chain, is expected to decline in the second quarter year-on-year chain will continue to decline.
TSMC’s revenue decline also means that their capacity utilization rate has declined. At the end of last year, it was also reported that TSMC’s capacity utilization was expected to drop to 80% in the first half of this year, with capacity utilization declining for both 5nm and 7nm, the two largest revenue generators. Earlier this year, it was reported that TSMC’s 5/4nm process capacity utilization may drop to below 70%.
However, according to the latest media reports, TSMC’s capacity utilization for 7nm and below advanced processes has started to rebound slowly since June.
Although the media reports did not explicitly mention the reasons for the rebound in TSMC’s 7nm and below capacity utilization, it is expected to be related to the increased demand for artificial intelligence chips driven by ChatGPT, and there have also been reports that major supplier Nvidia has increased its orders from TSMC in recent times.
In addition, media reports have also mentioned that TSMC is preparing for a new wave of chip demand growth in 2024 as major customers restart or expand their orders.
The rebound in capacity utilization and the restart or increase in orders from major customers means that TSMC’s revenue will rebound in the coming period.
