Impact of 'TSMC Power Outage'... "Worsening Shortage of Automotive MCU Supply"

[Asia Economy Reporter Suyeon Woo] The power outage at TSMC, the world's number one global foundry, is expected to worsen the supply shortage of automotive microcontroller units (MCUs). Industry insiders estimate that TSMC suffered losses of approximately $10 million to $25 million (about 11.1 billion to 28 billion KRW) due to this outage.

According to market research firm TrendForce and local media on the 18th, TSMC experienced production setbacks due to a power outage at the wafer line in the Southern Taiwan Science Park on the 14th. Although power was restored around 7:30 PM after about six hours of outage, all wafers in production had to be discarded.

[Image source=Reuters Yonhap News]

The affected production lines include the 45/40nm and 16/12nm lines, which are expected to impact the supply of automotive MCUs and image sensors (CIS) products. TrendForce stated, "The 45/40nm capacity is experiencing the most severe supply shortage among all foundry productions," adding, "This will affect the production of finished products including smartphones and automobiles."

According to TrendForce's investigation, the affected production facility accounts for 4% of TSMC's 12-inch wafer foundry production and 2% of global 12-inch wafer foundry production. The industry anticipates that the supply shortage of automotive MCUs and other products will intensify due to this power outage.

Recently, the automotive semiconductor market has been facing severe supply shortages due to various incidents and supply-demand imbalances, including the fire accident at Japan's Renesas in March. Among these, automotive MCUs serve as the brain controlling electronic systems, and vehicle production is impossible without MCUs.

For this reason, governments in the US, Europe, and other regions have recently advocated for "semiconductor self-reliance" and introduced various support measures to procure automotive semiconductors. Although global semiconductor companies are belatedly increasing automotive semiconductor production, the supply shortage is expected to continue for some time. On the 12th (local time), US semiconductor company Intel announced plans to re-enter the foundry market by starting automotive semiconductor production within 6 to 9 months.