TSMC expects that once the company successfully launches the latest semiconductor manufacturing technology, it is expected to usher in a reversal of the industry leader Intel. As the world's largest chip foundry, its customers include Apple, AMD and many other technology companies. On Thursday, the company also disclosed its earnings report for the fourth quarter and the full fiscal year.
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TSMC executives shared details of future technology and capital expenditures, both of which are hot topics in the semiconductor industry. In the context of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, demand for news electronics and other semiconductor-based devices has set new records.
During the investor conference call, TSMC's Chief Executive Officer (CEO) and Chief Financial Officer (CFO) also shared details of the company's capital expenditures, outlook on new technology needs, and future planning.
CFO Huang Renzhao first said: The company plans to spend $40 billion to $44 billion in 2022, confirming a report that surfaced last month.
Most of this (70 to 80 percent) will be concentrated in the so-called advanced technology product line, covering the 7nm, 5nm, 3nm and 2nm chip manufacturing processes.
CEO Wei Zhejia added: "The company is confident in the competitiveness of the industry's leading semiconductor manufacturing technology.
Once the N3-related technology is successfully launched later this year, TSMC will achieve a counter-superiority compared to the US chip giant Intel Corporation.
TSMC 2021 Q4 Report
By different chip manufacturing processes, the annual revenue contribution of 5nm nodes has more than doubled. In addition, the head of TSMC shared his views on the current state of the semiconductor market and the supply situation in 2022.
While the industry as a whole has suffered a historic demand shock in 2021, the financial community is divided on whether high demand in 2022 will continue to lead to chip shortages and supply constraints.
Wei Zhejia was relatively cautious and said that he had reservations about the matter. After all, these restrictions not only helped the company expand production capacity, but also ushered in record revenue growth as economies of scale continued to grow.
We expect TSMC to see another round of strong growth in 2022, and throughout the year, we predict that the semiconductor market as a whole (excluding memory) will grow by about 9%, while the foundry industry is expected to grow by 20%.
For TSMC, we are confident that in 2022, we will achieve growth beyond foundry revenue, between the middle and high levels of 20% in US dollar terms, while the performance of smart machines, high-performance computing, Internet of Things and automotive will be very strong.
After the start of 2022, the supply chain is expected to maintain inventory levels above historical seasonal levels to ensure supply security. While short-term imbalances are unlikely to persist, we will continue to observe structural growth in long-term demand.
Thanks to the megatrend of 5G and HPC-related applications, as well as the improvement of chip technology content in a large number of end-to-end devices, automotive, personal computers, servers, networks, smartphones and other products are expected to remain in high demand.
In summary, we expect TSMC's capacity to remain tight in 2022 and believe that the company can leverage its technological leadership to generate strong customer demand for its advanced and specialized technology.