TSMC plans lower capital spending as chip demand weakens

TSMC expects capital spending of US$32 billion to US$36 billion in 2023, below the US$36.29 billion it spent last year, as chip demand weakens.

Photo: Briáxis F. Mendes (孟必思), “TSMC logo on Taichung factory building” (2020). CC BY-SA 4.0. Responsive crops under the same licence.

Its 12 January results forecast first-quarter revenue of US$16.7 billion to US$17.5 billion, against US$19.93 billion in the fourth quarter. Management cited weak end-market demand and customers reducing inventories.

Fourth-quarter net income reached NT$295.90 billion, up 78% from a year earlier.

CEO C.C. Wei forecast a semiconductor-cycle bottom in the first half and recovery in the second. TSMC still expected slight full-year revenue growth in US-dollar terms. Those are forecasts, not achieved results.