TSMC seen likely to focus on capex, advanced chips at investor conference

Taipei, July 13 (CNA) Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. (TSMC) is expected to highlight its capital expenditure and the progress of its advanced process development when it holds its next investor conference on Thursday, according to an economist.

Liu Pei-chen (劉佩真) of the Taiwan Institute of Economic Research, told CNA Friday that TSMC's capex could reach a historical high over the next three years, given the chipmaker's focus on advanced manufacturing processes.

Citing a market estimate, Liu said TSMC's accumulated capex could top US$150 billion during the three-year period.

At its last investor conference in mid-April, TSMC said the company estimates capital expenditure for 2026 will be at the higher end of the US$52 billion-US$56 billion range it forecast in January.

On Friday, Liu noted that TSMC has expanded production of its 3-nanometer and 2-nanometer processes to overseas sites in the U.S. state of Arizona and in Kumamoto, Japan.

Last year, the company started mass production in Taiwan of the 2nm process, its latest technology in commercial production.

Liu said TSMC has delivered stable yield rates on its high-end processes, built a unique "customer trust ecosystem," and maintained a technology edge over competitors such as Intel Corp. and Samsung Electronics Co.

To cement its lead in the global market, TSMC will continue to assign most of its capex to the 2nm process and more sophisticated technologies, while speeding up its overseas expansion, Liu said.

TSMC is also expected to spend more on its advanced Chip-on-Wafer-on-Substrate IC assembly technology, to help meet fast-growing global demand driven by the AI boom, he said.

Liu noted that TSMC's chips are used not just in AI applications but also in high-end smartphones and high-performance computing devices, and for high-bandwidth memory chips.

Meanwhile, an industry source, who asked not to be named, also said that TSMC's high yield rates have helped the company secure more orders than its competitors for the supply of 2nm chips from major customers such as Apple Inc., Qualcomm Inc., MediaTek Inc., Nvidia Corp., and Advanced Micro Devices, Inc.

At TSMC's upcoming investor conference on Thursday, the company's investments in the U.S. are expected to be highlighted, according to Liu.

She noted that on July 2, U.S. President Donald Trump said Taiwan was doubling the size of its chip plants under construction in Arizona and that Taiwanese chipmakers such as TSMC were increasing their investments in the U.S.

TSMC said it has invested US$65 billion to build three advanced wafer fabs in Arizona, with the first starting mass production in the fourth quarter of 2024.

Last year, the company announced an additional US$100 billion in investment to build three additional wafer fabs, two IC assembly plants, and a research and development center in the U.S.