Taiwan chip giant TSMC says 2024 revenue rose 33.9%

Taiwanese chip making giant Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC) said Friday its net sales rose by more than a third last year, beating its own forecast, as the company continued to benefit from soaring demand for AI technology.

TSMC controls more than half the world’s output of chips used in everything from Apple’s iPhones to Nvidia’s cutting-edge artificial intelligence hardware.

Net revenue rose 33.9% to NT$2.9 trillion ($87.8 billion), the company said in a statement, ahead of the release of its complete earnings report next week.

The result exceeded its estimate in October for full-year revenue to increase by nearly 30%, underscoring expectations for sustained spending on AI infrastructure from the likes of Microsoft and Amazon.

It comes after Taiwanese AI server maker Foxconn, also known by its official name Hon Hai Precision Industry, reported strong sales.

TSMC is at the forefront of a generative AI revolution, churning out the world’s most advanced microchips needed to power products made by Silicon Valley.

Its shares have more than doubled since the AI boom began in late 2022 with the debut of OpenAI’s ChatGPT, Bloomberg News reported. But TSMC is grappling with geopolitical tensions between the United States and China over technology import restrictions, trade and Taiwan.

Its headquarters — and the bulk of its fabrication plants — are in Taiwan, a self-ruled island that China claims as part of its territory.

The semiconductor supply chain is highly vulnerable to shocks, and concerned governments have lobbied TSMC to move more production away from Taiwan.

TSMC’s new factories overseas include three planned in the United States and one that opened in Japan last year.

The United States will award TSMC up to $6.6 billion in direct funding to help build “state-of-the-art facilities in Arizona”, officials said in November, finalising the deal before Donald Trump’s administration enters the White House.