TAIPEI (Realist English). Taiwan’s TSMC, the world’s largest semiconductor manufacturer, reported a near 40% surge in quarterly net profit, driven by surging demand for artificial intelligence (AI) chips and robust orders from major clients including Apple and Nvidia.
For the July–September quarter, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. posted a record profit of 452.3 billion New Taiwan dollars ($15 billion), outperforming analysts’ expectations. Revenue rose 30% year-on-year, the company said in a statement.
Analysts at Morningstar noted that “demand for TSMC’s products is unyielding,” adding that the company’s global dominance would likely shield it even if U.S. tariffs were imposed on Taiwanese chip exports. “We expect AI demand to stay resilient,” they said.
TSMC has been expanding its manufacturing footprint abroad to mitigate geopolitical and supply-chain risks stemming from China–U.S. tensions. The company is investing $100 billion in new facilities in Arizona, in addition to $65 billion previously pledged, and is also building new plants in Japan.
Last month, U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick proposed splitting global chip production equally between the U.S. and Taiwan — a plan Taipei firmly rejected, saying it would undermine the island’s strategic advantage as the global leader in semiconductor manufacturing.
With AI applications continuing to drive demand for high-performance chips, industry analysts say TSMC is likely to remain the cornerstone of the global technology supply chain despite growing geopolitical headwinds.
