Taiwanese company TSMC, the largest contract chipmaker, has been forced to increase the number of factories under construction in the past few years, even without taking into account “continued invitations” from US authorities. Chief Operating Officer Cliff Hou said that since the end of last year, TSMC’s demand for chip manufacturing equipment has actually been nearly twice what it planned.
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how famous Company representatives said TSMC was forced to increase quarterly purchases in this area by about 1.9 times from December’s forecast. The company’s chief operating officer shared his revelations from the podium at the 2026 Taiwan Semiconductor Industry Event held on the island of the same name this week.
The company is currently building and trying to equip 20 new factories simultaneously in Taiwan and abroad. Cliff Howe said historically the ratio has been four to five times lower, but even the current record level of capacity expansion does not allow the company to claim it can meet demand for its products. Efforts to eliminate short-term shortages must continue next year, but customers such as Nvidia and AMD continue to increase order volumes, making the problem difficult to solve. Nvidia recently estimated its revenue growth potential next year at 70% of current levels.
MediaTek CEO Rick Tsai’s keynote comments to TSMC’s chief operating officer confirmed the seriousness of the problem: “Cliff, can I get more power?” This year, the U.S. technology giant is preparing to spend about $800 billion to expand its computing infrastructure, and because its development involves actively buying chips, TSMC’s lagging behind the actual market demand has become more obvious. The company itself is preparing to spend $600 million to $64 billion on capital expenditures this year.
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