Posted on Tuesday, July 23 2019 @ 12:00 CEST by Thomas De Maesschalck
EE Times
reports TSMC is upping its full-year capital expenditures due to the strong demand it sees from 5G applications. This new market is seen as the major driver for growth, with strong demand for the foundry's 5nm and 7nm process nodes.
Demand is so strong that the company is preparing to raise its full-year capital expenditure to more than $11 billion, the high end of its target at the beginning of 2019, TSMC said in its second-quarter results.
TSMC said it may need to increase 2019 capex to accelerate the installation of tools for 5nm production next year.
The company's most advanced 7nm node is poised to become its new cash cow, as it accounted for 21% of revenue in the second quarter, compared with 10nm at 3% and 16nm at 23%. Those three nodes made up 47% of total sales, increasing from 42% in the first quarter.
