You might not know Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. off the top of your head , but you unquestionably use gadgets feature their chips . In fact , it ’s the sole semiconducting material supplier for Apple ’s various devices . Now , Nikkei Asiais report TSMC ’s most sophisticated mill for Apple processors has been hit by gas pedal contamination .
The impacted manufacturing plant , Fab 18 , produces the processors for Apple ’s newest gadgets , include those for the iPhone 13 and rumored redesigned MacBook Pros . The timing is n’t swell , as right about now is when Apple and its partners gear up for aggregated yield onwards of its one-year iPhone launching upshot .
“ Some TSMC production line in the South Taiwan Science Park receive certain gases from suppliers that are believed to be contaminated . These were quickly replaced with other gas supply , ” the troupe told both Nikkei Asia andReuters . The company also note it was carrying out follow - up operation to ensure production quality wo n’t be impacted . The salutary tidings is TSMC says it presently does n’t believe this will have a major influence on operations .
Photo: Sam Yeh/AFP
The news is a tad unsettling consider we ’re presently in the midst ofa worldwide chip shortage . While President Joe Biden has promised toaddress the issue , semiconductor companies — including TMSC — have warn that this could lastthrough the entirety of 2022and Intel CEO Pat Gelsinger late order he believes the shortagewill get worsein the 2d half of this class . Gelsinger also hinted that it could very well be a yr or even two old age before things return to normal .
So far , Apple has been relatively unscathed by the poker chip shortage compared to other twist makers but it appears that fortune may finally be running out . In anearnings call earlier this week , CEO Tim Cook warned that iPhone and iPad sales would be affected by “ supply restraint ” for atomic number 14 . While the company did n’t go into how the shortage might impact iPhone sales , Apple CFO Luca Maestri say it expect the shortages will be “ greater than what we experienced during the June quarter . ”
However , Cook also elucidate that the majority of the shortages were n’t related to Apple Silicon . Instead , the job lies with “ legacy guest ” and greater demand for Apple products than ab initio anticipated . Given these care , you could conceive of why even pocket-size petrol contamination at the plant life producing the new M1 , M1X , or M2 chips might rattle cheek .
Last year , supply chain constraint stemming from the pandemic conduct to Apple divvying up its fall merchandise launch into three separate issue spanning from September to November . This year , all indication seem to signal to one consequence . So long as this gas contamination incident genuinely is n’t that openhanded of a plenty , that ’ll hopefully still hold true .
Daily Newsletter
Get the good tech , science , and culture news in your inbox daily .
newsworthiness from the hereafter , delivered to your present .
You May Also Like
