Thanks to Apple, TSMC's November revenue soars by more than 50% yoy

TSMC, the world's largest contract chipmaker, saw its November revenue increase by 50.2% year-over-year, reaching $7.27 billion. Much of this success can be attributed to its partnership with Apple, even amid the global economic slowdown that has particularly affected tech companies.

TSMC has seen impressive growth in its November sales to reach $7.27 billion in revenue. This puts the company on track to meet its fourth-quarter estimate of between $19.9 billion and $20.7 billion.

Dale Gai, a semiconductor analyst at Counterpoint Research, told CNBC:

“TSMC’s Oct/Nov revenues are on track comparing to what the management guided 2 months ago, despite significant business slowdowns in many other semi names"

The Taiwanese chipmaker's strong performance in the quarter is perhaps proportional to its supply of the A16 SoC used in the iPhone 14 Pro and 14 Pro Max. Apple, TSMC's biggest customer, announced that it would purchase chips from the supplier's US facilities, reducing its reliance on Asian manufacturers.

At an event attended by President Joe Biden and Apple CEO Tim Cook earlier this week, TSMC announced that it would expand its building and manufacturing efforts in the US. The expansion will involve a $40 billion investment in two fabs in Arizona, an increase from the previously planned $12 billion. The new facilities will also be able to begin manufacturing using 4nm process, which is an upgrade from the previously planned 5nm wafers.

The project is expected to create tens of thousands of jobs and have a total manufacturing output of 600,000 wafers per year.

Although TSMC's November revenue has been boosted by its partnership with Apple, analysts are concerned about potential weaker orders in the coming year. Despite this, TSMC reportedly plans to increase its 3nm wafer prices by 25% over 5nm to $20,000, which is expected to boost its bottom line. The 2023 iPhone 15's A17 Bionic chip will be manufactured using the 3nm process, and Apple has also agreed, albeit reluctantly, to the price hike.

Source: CNBC