Apple has finally agreed to a price hike from its primary chip supplier, TSMC. Apple had pushed back against the price hike just last week, according to a report from Economic Daily News.
As of January 1, 2023, TSMC plans to raise the price of its 8-inch chip wafers by 6%, while 12-inch wafers are set to increase by 3 to 5%. Apple reportedly pushed back against the price increase, but it now appears that the company has agreed to bear the cost.
TSMC has faced drastically increased prices from its fabrication materials suppliers, as the world faces a global chip shortage. We’re seeing price increases across the tech industry.
In July, we reported that Apple would likely face higher chip prices from TSMC, as the sole Apple Silicon supplier contends with increasing costs.
Tokyo-based Showa Denko K.K., which supplies essential chip fabrication materials to the likes of Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. and Infineon Technologies AG, has been forced to drastically increase the cost it passes on to customers, Chief Financial Officer Hideki Somemiya said.
TSMC was expected to pass on increased costs to its own customers, including Apple. The situation is unlikely to significantly improve until at least 2023, said Somemiya.
TSMC fabricates A-series chips for the iPhone and iPad, as well as Apple Silicon chips for the Mac. The foundry is expected to begin production of 3nm chips for Apple by the end of 2022.
(Via MacRumors)
