Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing CompanyThe world’s largest manufacturer of advanced chips, stopped some of its chip production machines and evacuated staff after a massive earthquake hit its home island in 25 years old.
TSMC, the main contract chip manufacturer Apple Inc. And Nvidia companytransferred staff from certain locations and said it was assessing the impact shiver magnitude 7.4 off the east coast. Smaller local competitor United Microelectronics Corporation. The company also stopped equipment at some factories and evacuated some facilities at its centers in Hsinchu and Tainan, the company said in a statement.
Taiwanese companies from TSMC to ASE Technology Holding Co. manufacture and assemble the vast majority of semiconductors used in devices from iPhones to cars in factories that are vulnerable to even the slightest shocks. A single vibration can destroy entire batches of precision semiconductors. TSMC shares fell about 1.5% in early trading, while UMC shares fell less than 1%.
“TSMC’s security systems are working fine. To ensure the safety of personnel, some plants have been evacuated in accordance with company procedure,” the company said in a statement. “We are currently confirming details of the impact.”
Taiwan prone earthquakes because it is located near the convergence of two tectonic plates. However, it is also the source of approximately 80–90% of the high-end chips required for modern applications such as smartphones and artificial intelligence.
Industry executives and government officials have long warned of the dangers of concentrating the world’s advanced semiconductor manufacturing on an island that, in addition to natural disturbances, is considered a potential military hotspot. This has become especially evident in the Covid era, which has worsened global shortages of vital components.
U.S. officials, mindful of the threat to Taiwan from the mainland Chinese government, which considers the island a renegade province, have pushed U.S. and Taiwanese companies, including TSMC, to diversify geographically.
But TSMC’s expansion projects currently underway in Japan and the United States will take time to reach full speed, and American companies such as Micron Technology Inc. still conduct major operations on the island.