TSMC Founder Says Free Trade of Chips is Dead

Morris Chang, the founder of TSMC, warned the company faces its biggest challenge as the free trade of chips continues to be stifled. Chang, who retired as chairman in 2018, said that, as geopolitical tensions rise, global free trade in semiconductors has died, creating new barriers to growth.

He said TSMC had become a battleground and is now truly a turf all major powers want to secure. Last week, the company was forced to stop shipping chips made for a China-based customer after discovering the components ended up on a Huawei processor. US sanctions bar Huawei from importing advanced 5G and AI chips.

TSMC is a major chip supplier to Nvidia and Apple. It is receiving $11.6 billion in government grants and loans to build a third chip production facility in the US state of Arizona. It recently raised its 2024 revenue growth forecast to 30%, after recording a 54.2% increase in net profit in Q3. It expects Q4 revenue to grow by 33% to 37%.