- ‘Outsized demand’ for AI technology, says TSMC CEO
- Share price has rallied in recent weeks to $195
- Chipmaker a crucial partner to AI tech majors
‘Outsized demand’ for AI (artificial intelligence) technology will likely trump the lumpy impact of US trade tariffs, according to TSMC (TSM:NYSE) chief executive CC Wei.
Speaking at the company’s annual shareholders meeting, Wei said that TSMC had not seen any changes in customer trends due to heightened tariff uncertainty, and that the situation was likely to become clearer in the coming months.
IMPACT OF US TARIFFS
Tariffs do have some indirect impact on TSMC, but because these extra costs are levied on importers, not exporters, like the Taiwanese chip foundry firm, Wei remains confident that the steep demand curve it is experiencing will last for the foreseeable future.
‘Tariffs can lead to slightly higher prices, and when prices go up, demand may go down, but I can assure you that AI demand has always been very strong and it’s consistently outpacing supply’, the CEO told shareholders.
TSMC is bolstering its US chipmaking capacity with $165 billion investment / Image source: Adobe
Wei’s comments come after TSMC, the world’s biggest chipmaker clocked strong first-quarter earnings in April, and flagged a positive outlook for the coming years. The company has seen a sharp increase in demand over the past two years as increased AI development demanded more advanced chips.
CRUCIAL TECH MAJOR PARTNER
TSMC is a key manufacturing partner to AI major Nvidia (NVDA:NASDAQ), as well as several of Wall Street’s tech majors, including Apple (AAPL:NASDAQ), Advanced Micro Devices (AMD:NASDAQ), Qualcomm (QCOM:NASDAQ), and Broadcom (AVGO:NASDAQ).
The company has benefited greatly from tech majors racing to build out more AI infrastructure, and it is also bolstering its own chipmaking capacity in the US, where it has committed a $165 billion investment.
TSMC’s Wall Street-listed stock has rallied 37% since hitting 2025-year lows of $141 in early April, although year to date it remains around 3% down. The share price has surged 253% over five years from $55 to $195 now.
