TSMC "Preparing to Resume Production... No Damage to Key Equipment Including EUV"

Taiwan's TSMC, the world's largest foundry company, announced that although part of its factory was damaged by an earthquake, it will soon resume production. The company stated that key equipment, including extreme ultraviolet (EUV) lithography machines, was not damaged.

According to Taiwan's Central News Agency and Chinese economic media Caixin on the 4th, TSMC said it will restart the semiconductor production lines that were halted due to the magnitude 7.3 earthquake the previous day. The company explained, "We are supporting efforts to accelerate the full resumption of operations and will maintain close communication with our customers."

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According to TSMC, within less than 10 hours after the earthquake, the equipment recovery rate at the wafer production facilities reached about 70%, and the recently completed 18th plant in Tainan City had a recovery rate exceeding 80%. The company emphasized, "Some equipment in our factories was damaged, affecting production lines, but key equipment such as EUV machines was not harmed."

It is reported that some production staff who had evacuated after the earthquake are returning to the site. Local media Taiwan Commercial Times estimated that due to the earthquake's impact, some quartz tubes in TSMC's factories were damaged, causing wafer damage and resulting in losses estimated at around 60 million USD (approximately 80.9 billion KRW).

Taiwan is a global hub for wafer manufacturing, hosting 46% of the world's wafer foundry production capacity last year. Especially in advanced processes (14nm, 16nm, and high-end processes), Taiwan's market share reaches 68%. Top ten foundry companies such as TSMC, United Microelectronics Corporation (UMC), Power Semiconductor, and AMD are based in Taiwan. As of the fourth quarter of last year, their market shares were approximately 61.2%, 5.4%, 1.0%, and 1.0%, respectively.

UMC, Taiwan's second-largest foundry company, told Caixin that "some production facility employees were evacuated according to operational standards," adding, "All employees are safe, factory facilities are normal, and only some machines are temporarily halted." Furthermore, through the Taiwan Stock Exchange the previous afternoon, UMC explained that some wafers produced at its factories were affected, but production and shipment are currently normal, so the impact on financial status or operations is expected to be minimal.

On the other hand, display manufacturers appear to have suffered relatively greater damage. According to local market research firm TrendForce, all production equipment at display manufacturer AUO is currently under repair and is gradually being restored. Innolux has halted operations at most of its factories except for Plant 6. Authorities expect these companies to be affected for about 1 to 2 days due to the earthquake, resulting in a 1.2% reduction in total production for April.

Caixin stated, "Neither AUO nor Innolux provided specific responses to Caixin regarding the earthquake's impact, but their influence on the overall panel market is not significant," adding, "Major manufacturers such as Samsung and LG will be able to provide sufficient production capacity to the market."

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