TSMC held a meeting yesterday. At the meeting, TSMC announced that it would lower its capital expenditure in 2022 to US$36 billion. TSMC admitted that weak market demand and customers delayed product plans have led to a decrease in capacity utilization of the 7nm capacity process. Therefore, the original plan to expand the 7nm factory in Kaohsiung will be adjusted.
At the meeting, TSMC also released its third-quarter financial report. The report pointed out that TSMC's gross profit margin in the third quarter reached 60.4%, and its net profit attributable to its parent company was 280.87 billion yuan, far exceeding the high standard for the Q2 financial report forecast.
TSMC President Wei Zhejia said that due to multiple factors, the utilization rate of 7nm production capacity has declined, and bluntly stated that the decline in the utilization rate of 7nm production capacity will continue from the fourth quarter of this year to the first half of next year. The 7 and 28nm plants originally planned to be built in Kaohsiung will be adjusted due to weaker capacity utilization, the 7nm plant plan will be adjusted, and the 28nm plant will be built as planned.
Wei Zhejia pointed out that 2023 will still be a year of growth for TSMC, but the overall semiconductor industry may face recession. As for the past proposed by TSMC, the annual compound growth rate of 15% to 20% in the next few years, it remains unchanged.
