Both Apple and Qualcomm have been throwing money at TSMC recently to try and get production of their products to take priority. In return for investment offers in TSMC both Apple and Qualcomm were trying to cash in on some extra prioritised production but TSMC isn’t having any of it.
The pair of investment offers were both said to be worth a staggering $1 billion each but TSMC said it doesn’t need the investment and it certainly doesn’t want to start selling off shares of its company for cash it doesn’t need.
Apple and Qualcomm both want to give production a boost for the ever growing smartphone market currently valued at $219 billion.
Apple is looking for an alternate supplier to Samsung who is currently its largest provider of smartphone chips for its iPhone and iPad devices but also its biggest rival. Qualcomm are looking for more supplies, as shortages are starting to slow revenue.
TSMC have stated that even though they are happy to devote one or two factories to one client, they still want the flexibility of being able to switch production between clients and products when they see fit.
TSMC thinks there are too many risks associated which permanently dedicating a foundry to one particular product or client. Currently TSMC is Qualcomm’s largest supplier.
