Posted on Thursday, April 15 2021 @ 10:32 CEST by Thomas De Maesschalck
Another setback for chip production as TSMC's Fab-14A got hit by a power outage. Reuters
reports construction work accidentally severed an underground power line yesterday morning. Some of TSMC's machines at the plant were able to run on backup power but the operation didn't fully resume until evening.
TSMC, the world's largest contract chip maker, said its facility experienced a power outage due to "an abnormality with a power line to the South Taiwan Science Park extra high voltage substation".
"Personnel in the fab were not evacuated. Power was restored the same day. TSMC is currently evaluating the impact," it said in a statement to Reuters.
TSMC's Fab-14A focuses on the production of mature nodes, so cutting-edge chips are not affected. Production of 40/45nm and 90nm got affected. Among other things, Fab-14A makes chips for car makers -- an industry hit particularly hard by the global chip shortages.
TSMC warns chip shortages will continue into 2022
In related news, TSMC
published its first-quarter results. First-quarter profit was up 19.4 percent thanks to the continued high demand for semiconductor chips. TSMC says it's doing what it can to alleviate the chip shortages, but warns the problem will persist into next year. TSMC also promises automotive chip clients that the situation will be greatly improved from the next quarter:
Its business was boosted by the chip shortage that initially forced automakers to cut production, but is now also hurting manufacturers of smartphones, laptops and even appliances. On Thursday, TSMC said it expects the chip shortage for its auto clients to be greatly reduced from the next quarter.
