Dear Rivals, TSMC Can and Will Outspend You All
With a budget of $44 billion this year, no company will be able to get near the world’s most powerful chipmaker.
Samsung and Intel should take a deep breath.
Photographer: I-Hwa Cheng/BloombergTaiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. spent a record $30 billion last year on factories that churn out the world’s most-advanced chips. It seems that wasn’t enough. This year, it’s decided to up the ante by forecasting a budget of as much as $44 billion. Rivals better watch out.
“Every year our capex is spent in anticipation of the growth that will follow,” Chief Financial Officer Wendell Huang told investors during an earnings call Thursday. That’s an understatement. After posting a 25% increase in revenue last year, the company announced it expects to top that figure by climbing somewhere in the high-20s-percent range in 2022. TSMC rarely misses its forecasts.