TSMC To Supply Chips For Apple iPhone 13 And Automakers On Priority

Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company, better known by its abbreviation TSMC, is the third-largest chip manufacturer in the world after Intel and Samsung. The production capacities of TSMC are correspondingly important, but the company has to set priorities right now.

Of course, this has to do with the current chip bottleneck. This currently affects practically all industries that manufacture products in which semiconductors of any kind are required. This crisis will last for months, if not years. And for the manufacturers, this means that they (have to) prefer certain customers.

Apple and cars are moving forward

In the case of TSMC, orders for PCs and servers will lose out in the future, Apple and car manufacturers will instead be pushed forward. As the industry insider DigiTimes reports which also reported by 9to5Mac, this prioritization begins in the third quarter of the year and, in the case of the group from Cupertino, California, primarily affects the Apple A15 chip, which is produced using the 5nm process.

Apple naturally needs this for the next generation of its smartphones, the iPhone 13 family. With the preference given by TSMC, nothing stands in the way of the devices being released in September or October.

The reasons for this preference are certainly money, size, and importance. It is not known whether the Californians paid extra for this. But it can be assumed that Apple has renegotiated here. The bottom line is that this is not important, because a contract manufacturer like TSMC certainly cannot and does not want to lose a customer like Apple.

Small Companies May Suffer

This is certainly not so good news for smaller companies, as it leaves them behind and is even more affected by the shortage. However, it is not known who specifically has to stand in line.