The value of Taiwan’s semiconductor output is expected to grow 22 percent year-on-year to more than US$164 billion this year, a top executive from chipmaking giant Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) said yesterday, driven by artificial intelligence (AI) technology and stronger economic growth.

Taiwan is a global power in semiconductors, which have become indispensable in an array of industries, from electronics to wind turbines, and even missiles.

TSMC controls more than half of the world’s output of chips and counts Apple Inc and Nvidia Corp among its clients.

Taiwan Semiconductor Industry Association chairman Cliff Hou, who is also a senior vice president at Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC), poses for a photograph at a forum in Hsinchu yesterday.

Photo: Vanessa Cho, Taipei Times

Speaking at an industry event in Hsinchu, TSMC senior vice president Cliff Hou (侯永清) said Taiwan’s semiconductor output is expected to reach NT$5.3 trillion (US$164.2 billion) this year, up 22 percent on last year.

The increase is “driven by advancements in AI and gradual economic recovery”, said Hou, who is also the chairman of the Taiwan Semiconductor Industry Association.

“We should accelerate research and development to ensure our standing as an indispensable member of the global semiconductor supply chain,” Hou said, according to Bloomberg news agency.

Hou’s remarks came after Donald Trump’s victory in the US presidential election. Trump has accused Taiwan of stealing the US chip industry, raising fears the sector could be hit with tariffs.

Last month, Trump told podcast host Joe Rogan that Taiwan took away US semiconductor business and jobs. “These chip companies, they stole 95 percent of our business. It’s in Taiwan right now. They do a great job, but that’s only because we have stupid politicians,” Trump said as part of a lengthy interview where he also stated he protected Taiwan from China during his first stint as president.

The incoming Republican president went on to suggest that he could leverage tariffs, not subsidies, to convince companies like TSMC to build and expand chipmaking facilities on US soil, Bloomberg reported.

Hou said yesterday that Taiwan’s chip industry has not received any notification about new tariffs.

TSMC is at the forefront of a generative AI revolution, churning out the world’s most advanced microchips needed to power products made by Silicon Valley.

Surging demand for AI is having a knock-on effect across the entire semiconductor supply chain in Taiwan, Wayne Lin (林偉智), executive vice president at Witology Markettrend Research Institute (智璞產業趨勢研究所), told AFP.

“This expansion contributes to Taiwan’s projected output, along with the traditional peak season for mobile communications toward the year-end,” Lin said.

https://www.taipeitimes.com/News/biz/archives/2024/11/08/2003826548