TSMC shares up on price increase; company declines to comment

Taipei, Aug. 25 (CNA) Shares of Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. (TSMC) rose Wednesday morning after local media reported that the world's largest contract chipmaker will raise product prices due to a global supply shortage, dealers said.

Asked by CNA for comment on the reports, TSMC said the company never responds to any speculation on product price adjustments.

As of 11:02 a.m., shares of TSMC, the most heavily weighted stock in the local market, had risen 1.75 percent to NT$582.00 (US$30.54), driving gains in the market's weighted index, the Taiex, which was up 0.79 percent at 16,952.02.

The stock got a boost soon after the market opened from the reports, which said earlier Wednesday that TSMC will raise prices across the board.

The Chinese language Commercial Times said TSMC's product price hike is expected to start from the first quarter of next year.

It said prices for chips made using mature processes are expected to go up 15-20 percent and those for chips made from advanced processes are likely to rise by 10 percent.

Citing anonymous industrial sources, the report said that with global demand for semiconductors on the rise despite the COVID-19 pandemic, a supply shortage could continue into 2023 or even 2024, clearing the way for TSMC's product price hike.

The advanced processes referred to TSMC's processes of 12 nanometers and below, including the 5nm process, the most advanced of TSMC technologies in mass production.

The Economic Daily News reported that TSMC has informed IC design clients of the price hikes, which it said were scheduled to start in the fourth quarter of this year.

The media outlet said prices of chips made using the 12nm or more advanced processes will rise by 10 percent, while prices for processes inferior to the 12nm technology will be raised by 20 percent.

Before speculation emerged of TSMC's price hikes, United Microelectronics Corp. (UMC), a smaller contract chipmaker in Taiwan, was rumored earlier this month to be asking for 10 percent price increases, but UMC declined to comment on the speculation.

It has also been reported that South Korea's Samsung Electronics Co. is planning to increase product prices for its contract chip production.