As Chip Rivals Struggle, TSMC Moves In for the Kill
A budget blowout is a signal that the world’s semiconductor giant will go to great lengths to stay on top.
Sometimes you just need to invest in the future.
Photographer: I-Hwa Cheng/BloombergBeing the world’s most dominant chipmaker just isn’t enough. Now Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. is making a massive move to obliterate rivals.
After posting a record $17 billion in capital expenditure last year, the semiconductor foundry plans to boost that figure by 37% in 2021. That’s a rate of growth not seen since the company’s rebound from the global financial crisis in 2010. At the upper end of its $25 billion to $28 billion forecast, and based on estimates for revenue this year, TSMC will post a spending-to-sales ratio that will surpass 50% for the first time in a decade. Also known as capital intensity, this number came in at 37.9% last year, the median of the past decade.