TSMC Capital expenditures on the 2nm process have surged, creating an urgent need to expand revenue. Recent reports indicate that the company plans a general price increase for advanced chip manufacturing processes below 5nm, and TSMC has already notified companies including Apple of this decision. Major clients, including [those mentioned].
As TSMC 's largest customer, Apple may have to significantly adjust the prices of its iPhone 18 series smartphones to be released next year due to rising chip prices.
Apple 's A16, A17, A18, A19, M3, M4, and M5 chips all use TSMC's sub-5nm manufacturing process. Furthermore, Apple's upcoming A20 chip will use TSMC's 2nm process and will be released alongside the iPhone 18 series.
Reports indicate that the average price of all chips using TSMC's 2nm process will reach $280, while the A18 chip, manufactured using a 3nm process last year, reportedly cost only $45. For reference, the iPhone with the A18 chip was priced at $799, with a total hardware cost of approximately $416.
Misfortunes never come singly
Industry insiders revealed in September that TSMC has invested heavily in advanced processes, but yield rates have already met targets. Therefore, TSMC is not currently offering any discounts or negotiating deals. Compared to the 3nm process, the 2nm process is at least 50% more expensive.
The specific pricing details are currently unclear, but both a 50% price increase and a unit price of $280 will significantly compress Apple's profit margins, forcing Apple to pass on the costs to consumers. There are also reports that Apple will not release three new models simultaneously next year, with the entry-level iPhone 18 potentially being released in 2027.
At the same time, Apple may also encounter problems with memory chips. Another risk arising from the price increase. Currently, the supply of general-purpose memory chips (DRAM), which are mainly used in electronic devices, is facing historically tight capacity due to the global shift of production capacity to HBM (Hardware-Based Memory). HBM is designed for artificial intelligence. Advanced memory products.
Data shows that in the third quarter of this year, DRAM prices rose by 171.8% compared to the same period last year, even higher than the increase in gold prices.
Goldman Sachs The report also pointed out that, taking the Redmi Note 14, priced at $299, as an example, CMF data shows that the price of the memory module with 8GB+256GB uMCP configuration has risen to $49, accounting for about 16% of the phone's retail price, while last year the price of this configuration was only 10% of the retail price.
(Article source: CLS)
