TSMC’s October Revenue Meets Expectations, but Market Remains Sensitive Amid AI Bubble Concerns

October Revenue Up 16.9% Year-on-Year
Growth Rate Hits 18-Month Low
Bloomberg: "Debate Over AI Boom Overheating Reignited"

TSMC logo of the Taiwanese semiconductor foundry company. Photo by Reuters Yonhap News

With concerns about an artificial intelligence (AI) bubble emerging, the market has become sensitive and is paying close attention to even the smallest signals. However, the big tech industry remains optimistic, predicting long-term growth for the AI sector.

On November 10, Taiwanese semiconductor foundry company TSMC announced that its revenue in October increased by 16.9% compared to the same month last year. This marks the lowest growth rate in 18 months, since February of last year.

Bloomberg noted that while this figure is similar to market expectations (16%), it has reignited debates over whether the AI boom is becoming overheated.

Concerns over the overvaluation of AI sector stocks persist. Some analysts have pointed out similarities between the current AI investment frenzy and the reckless investment craze during the dot-com bubble in 2000. Investor anxiety was further fueled by the revelation that Scion Asset Management, led by Michael Burry-the inspiration for the film "The Big Short" about the 2008 U.S. financial crisis-has bet on a decline in the stock prices of Nvidia and Palantir.

In contrast, major companies such as Nvidia, OpenAI, Microsoft, and Google are expanding their AI investments and maintaining an optimistic outlook. These companies plan to invest more than $400 billion (approximately 583 trillion won) in building AI infrastructure next year alone, which represents a 21% increase compared to this year.

Jensen Huang, CEO of Nvidia, recently dismissed bubble concerns, stating, "Business is getting stronger every month." He was also reported to have met with Wei Zhejia, CEO of TSMC in Taiwan, to request an increase in the supply of graphics processing units (GPUs).

CEO Wei also stated during an analyst conference call last month that the company's production capacity remains extremely tight and that efforts are underway to narrow the gap between supply and demand.

Cristiano Amon, CEO of Qualcomm, likewise expressed optimism, saying, "The world is still underestimating the potential of AI," and indicated that the growth of the AI industry is expected to continue in the long term.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.