According to Nikkei Asian Review, on January 28, TSMC caused difficulties in producing chips in factories due to defects in a chemical, which led to the decline in chip production. According to supply chain personnel, the incident occurred at TSMC's Nanke wafer factory. Because the imported chemical raw materials did not meet the requirements, the produced wafer was contaminated. The affected wafers were all 12/16nm. It is expected that customers such as HiSilicon, Qualcomm, MediaTek , and Nvidia will receive the impact this time.
This pollution incident occurred. TSMC immediately took emergency measures to notify the accident factory to stop taking leave and immediately conduct a comprehensive investigation of the production process. TSMC responded that it is currently investigating the specific causes of the incident, including statistical losses. TSMC said that the expected losses this time will be covered in the first quarter and will be completed in the second quarter if there is no compensation in the first quarter.
As we all know, the production of mobile phone chips is very complicated. This pollution incident will lead to the direct scrapping of tens of thousands of wafers. It is now the arrival of MWC, and many mobile phone manufacturers choose to release their new flagship models in February, which is a pressure for TSMC, which should be a period of intense stocking.
This time, the 12/16nm process wafers are contaminated, while the high-end chips of Qualcomm or Kirin use the 7nm process process , which should not have any impact on the release and sales of flagship phones. The 12/16nm process technology is aimed at products in the mid- and low-end markets. It is unknown whether this incident will have an impact on the selling price of mid- and low-end mobile phones.
