(Taipei = Yonhap News) Correspondent Kim Cheol-mun reports that Taiwan’s TSMC, the world’s largest foundry (semiconductor contract manufacturing) company, is expected to exceed 1 trillion Taiwanese dollars (about 43.6 trillion Korean won) in AI sales this year, according to Taiwanese media such as United News, citing anonymous sources.
According to the sources, TSMC’s AI performance continues to hit record highs due to its leading position in the AI semiconductor ecosystem, collaborating with NVIDIA, AI chip manufacturer AMD, and cloud service providers (CSP) for customized AI chip orders.
The sources further explained that TSMC is optimistic about achieving the record-breaking AI sales of 1 trillion Taiwanese dollars this year, benefitting from large infrastructure construction projects such as AI accelerator data centers built by “Stargate,” an AI joint venture recently unveiled by U.S. President Donald Trump.
Additionally, TSMC’s AI-related sales are expected to more than double from 15% last year to over 30% of its total sales this year.
Moreover, TSMC is anticipated to enjoy a boom in performance due to the saturation of its most productive 3nm (nanometer, or one-billionth of a meter) and 5nm production facilities, as well as pre-orders from customers for 2nm and A16 (1.6nm process) products.
Another source reported that TSMC’s AI-related sales reached about 434.1 billion Taiwanese dollars (about 18.9 trillion Korean won) last year, and this year, it is expected to easily achieve nearly double that amount, 868.3 billion Taiwanese dollars (about 37.9 trillion Korean won), surpassing the threshold of 1 trillion Taiwanese dollars.
Nano refers to the unit of semiconductor circuit linewidth, where narrower linewidths result in lower power consumption and faster processing speeds. The most advanced mass production technology currently available is 3nm.
Experts generally assess that TSMC holds a competitive edge in the cutting-edge sector of 2nm and above.
Meanwhile, TSMC Chairman Wei Zhejia revealed challenges and issues regarding the construction of a factory in Phoenix, Arizona, during a lecture at National Taiwan University on the 23rd.
Chairman Wei shared experiences with participants, explaining that producing high-purity semiconductor sulfuric acid locally in the U.S. requires five times the cost compared to Taiwan, but transporting it overland through the LA harbor to the Arizona plant from Taiwan was more cost-effective.
High-purity sulfuric acid is used in semiconductor manufacturing to remove impurities and foreign matter from the surface of wafers (silicon discs used in semiconductor manufacturing). Maintaining high purity is crucial to enhancing product yield in both the early and late stages of semiconductor manufacturing.