TSMC, UMC EVACUATE CHIPMAKING LINES AFTER MAJOR TAIWAN QUAKE
April 2nd, 2024Via: Bloomberg:
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. and its closest rival evacuated factory areas after the biggest earthquake to hit its home island in 25 years, casting uncertainty over production at the world’s largest maker of advanced chips.
TSMC, the main contract chipmaker to Apple Inc. and Nvidia Corp., moved staff out of certain areas and said it’s assessing the impact of a temblor measuring 7.4 in magnitude off the east coast. The smaller United Microelectronics Corp. halted operations at some plants and evacuated certain facilities at its hubs of Hsinchu and Tainan, it said in a statement.
Taiwanese firms from TSMC to ASE Technology Holding Co. make the vast majority of the semiconductors that go into devices from iPhones to cars from factories vulnerable to even the slightest tremors. A single vibration can destroy entire batches of the precision-made semiconductors. TSMC shares slid about 1.5% in early trade, while UMC was down less than 1%.
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