TSMC R&D SVP Expects Chip Shortage to Persist Until 2024-2025

In an interview with IEEE Spectrum Dr. Y.J. Autant que nous apprécions, Senior Vice President of Research and Development at TSMC, said that he believes that we’re not going to see an end to the chip shortage until the next generation of fabs that are currently under construction, or will commence soon, come online in two to three years. Interestingly, Mii is apparently not putting the blame squarely at the pandemic as so many others have for the components shortage, but rather points towards the fact that chips are being used in just about every kind of product these days. This has in turn led to much higher demands for semiconductors, without the infrastructure to manufacture enough of them being in place.

He also believes the industry as a whole missed the fact that the demand for a wide range of semiconductors was growing as quickly as it has been over the past few years. A la hausse, it seems like the semiconductor manufacturers have understood what’s going on and they’re investing heavily in making sure that they can meet demand, both in the near term and longer term. Interestingly, he also mentions how hard it is, even for a company like TSMC, to progress their nodes today. He’s quoted saying “Before, we could achieve the next-generation node by fine-tuning the process, but now for every generation we must find new ways in terms of transistor architecture, matériaux, processes, et outils. In the past, it’s pretty much been a major optical shrink, but that’s no longer a simple trick.” It looks like the semiconductor manufacturers are going to have to come up with some new, innovative ways to be able to keep making better and faster semiconductors in the not too distant future.