TSMC will continue to supply Huawei. Taiwanese media: No fear of the US

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The U.S. Department of Commerce has included Huawei in the export control "Entity List", which has had a negative impact on U.S. companies and markets, and some Taiwanese telecom operators have also followed suit. However, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC), which is regarded as a key link in Huawei's "survival battle", told several Taiwanese media that it will continue to ship to Huawei. Huawei also confirmed on its official Twitter account that TSMC will not stop supplying.

TSMC, headquartered in Hsinchu, Taiwan, is the world's largest chip foundry. According to a report by Taiwan's Central News Agency and other media on May 23, TSMC said that it would not affect TSMC's continued shipments to Huawei, as chip designer ARM was reported to have temporarily stopped all types of licensing cooperation with Huawei.

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TSMC also stated that TSMC will conduct due diligence on each export product, and "will only ship if it complies with regulations." After preliminary investigation, TSMC's shipments to Huawei HiSilicon (Huawei's chip design company) did not violate international trade regulations. TSMC will not be affected by the relevant US ban, and its shipments to Huawei will not change.

"All customers, including HiSilicon, are partners. Only when customers succeed can TSMC succeed," TSMC told Taiwan's Central News Agency.

Before Taiwanese media published TSMC's statement, Huawei also posted a message on social media saying that TSMC would not "cut off supply."

On May 22, some Huawei official Twitter accounts, including "Huawei Fact", reposted a report from Gizchina titled "TSMC will continue to provide Huawei with 7nm Kirin 980 chips" and revealed the following information:

“As planned: TSMC believes it meets U.S. export control requirements and will not stop supplying Huawei.”

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According to data from semiconductor market research firm IC Insights, as the world's number one chip foundry company, TSMC's share of the chip foundry market is as high as 51.6%, accounting for more than half of the chip assembly market.

As for the role played by TSMC in Huawei's "survival battle", the WeChat public account "Bu Yi Dao" of the Global Times Commentary Department once described it in an analysis article: In the industry circle, TSMC's status and its importance to Huawei are needless to say. It is generally regarded as a key link in Huawei's "survival battle".

"The Americans will inevitably put pressure on Taiwan and TSMC, which will be a great test of the judgment of TSMC's management. At the crossroads of history, can TSMC make the right choice?"

Before announcing on the 22nd that it would continue to supply Huawei, TSMC had claimed on the 17th that it was evaluating the impact of Washington's decision and would temporarily maintain its supply to Huawei. Regarding this headline, "Bu Yidao" analyzed that this left room for imagination. Taiwan's "United Daily News" also published a commentary saying that although TSMC stated that its shipment plan to Huawei remained unchanged, it still could not resolve market concerns.

On the same day that TSMC publicly stated that it would continue to supply Huawei, TSMC President Wei Zhejia held a technical forum on the 23rd and stated in his opening speech that the advent of the 5G era has brought many new business opportunities to the semiconductor industry and TSMC will increase its investment in Taiwan.

In addition, when reporting on TSMC's continued shipments to Huawei, Taiwan's China Times used the following statement: No fear of the Americans! TSMC has the guts to support Huawei.

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