[Click eStock] "Unstoppable Demand... How Far Can TSMC Go?"

There is analysis suggesting that TSMC's corporate value will continue to rise, as excess demand relative to its production capacity persists.

On June 11, Kim Dongkwan, a researcher at Meritz Securities, stated, "Excess demand compared to advanced process production capacity is expected to continue," adding, "The overwhelming technological stability across all processes, along with TSMC's expertise in current and next-generation advanced packaging such as CoWoS, SoIC, and CoPoS, remain key factors that lock in customers."

He explained, "Disaggregated computing, exemplified by the Vera Rubin POD architecture, is driving explosive demand for high-performance computing semiconductors," and noted, "Of the five chips that make up Vera Rubin, four have adopted TSMC's N3 derivative process."

He continued, "With additional N3 expansions and the full-scale mass production of the N2 process, advanced process production capacity is being expanded step by step. As a result of the shortage in TSMC's advanced process capacity, some customers are considering Intel or Samsung Electronics as alternatives. However, the easing of bottlenecks in advanced process chips is interpreted as a positive factor that will accelerate the growth trend in overall server shipments."

TSMC currently holds a monopoly on the mass production of major graphics processing units (GPUs), artificial intelligence (AI) accelerators, and application-specific integrated circuits (ASICs). Kim noted, "As power efficiency becomes the key performance metric for AI compute processors, data center chip customers are accelerating their adoption of the most advanced processes."

He added, "It is known that N3 process production capacity has already been fully booked through next year, and the overall utilization rate for 12-inch foundries is expected to rise to an average of 90% in the second half of this year. As a result, N3 wafer prices are projected to increase by up to 15%. The increased utilization rates at global sites such as the United States create margin pressures, but these are offset by rising wafer prices. Furthermore, with depreciation from past investments in N3 now completed, profitability is expected to improve."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.