TSMC Evacuates Production Lines After Major Taiwan Quake
Signage for Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. (TSMC) during a news conference in Taipei, Taiwan, on Thursday, Jan. 18, 2024. TSMC expects a return to solid growth this quarter and gave itself room to raise capital spending in 2024, suggesting the world’s most valuable chipmaker anticipates a recovery in smartphone and computing demand. Photographer: I-Hwa Cheng/Bloomberg , Bloomberg
(Bloomberg) -- Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co., the world’s largest maker of advanced chips, halted some chipmaking machinery and evacuated staff after the biggest earthquake to hit its home island in 25 years.
TSMC, the main contract chipmaker to Apple Inc. and Nvidia Corp., moved staff out of certain areas and said it’s assessing the impact of a temblor measuring 7.4 in magnitude off the east coast. Smaller local rival United Microelectronics Corp. also halted machinery at some plants and evacuated certain facilities at its hubs of Hsinchu and Tainan, it said in a statement.
Taiwanese firms from TSMC to ASE Technology Holding Co. make and assemble the vast majority of the semiconductors that go into devices from iPhones to cars from factories vulnerable to even the slightest tremors. A single vibration can destroy entire batches of the precision-made semiconductors. TSMC shares slid about 1.5% in early trade, while UMC was down less than 1%.
