TSMC is spending $100 billion to grow its chip manufacturing capacity

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TSMC HQ
TSMC HQ (Image credit: TSMC)

What you need to know

  • TSMC is spending $300 billion over three years to expand its chip manufacturing capacity.
  • TSMC provides the chips used in Apple products from iPhone to Apple TV and more.

Apple chip supplier TSMC is set to expand its production capacity by spending a massive $100 billion over the next three years. The company currently provides chips for Apple's devices ranging from iPhone to Apple TV and more. TSMC also manufactures the speedy Apple-designed M1 chip that powers the latest MacBook Air, MacBook Pro, and Mac mini.

First shared by Bloomberg, the news comes as a global chip shortage continues to bite. TSMC says that it needs to spend the money to deal with increased demand in a "sustainable manner".

"TSMC expects to invest USD$100b over the next three years to increase capacity to support the manufacturing and R&D of advanced semiconductor technologies," the company said in a statement responding to local media reports. "TSMC is working closely with our customers to address their needs in a sustainable manner."

The company was already set to spend $28 billion this year but has since decided to triple that commitment as more and more devices make use of its chips. Apple isn't the only company that relies on TSMC to build its parts – AMD, Qualcomm, and Nvidia are just some of the big names that need TSMC to be on its game.

TSMC is so ahead of the game that its work is found in some of the best Macs available today, not to mention the A-series chips inside iPhones and iPads used around the world.

Bloomberg's report notes that it isn't yet clear how TSMC intends to spend its money, however.

Oliver Haslam
Oliver Haslam
Contributor

Oliver Haslam has written about Apple and the wider technology business for more than a decade with bylines on How-To Geek, PC Mag, iDownloadBlog, and many more. He has also been published in print for Macworld, including cover stories. At iMore, Oliver is involved in daily news coverage and, not being short of opinions, has been known to 'explain' those thoughts in more detail, too. Having grown up using PCs and spending far too much money on graphics card and flashy RAM, Oliver switched to the Mac with a G5 iMac and hasn't looked back. Since then he's seen the growth of the smartphone world, backed by iPhone, and new product categories come and go. Current expertise includes iOS, macOS, streaming services, and pretty much anything that has a battery or plugs into a wall. Oliver also covers mobile gaming for iMore, with Apple Arcade a particular focus. He's been gaming since the Atari 2600 days and still struggles to comprehend the fact he can play console quality titles on his pocket computer.