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Comments (74)

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  Fiveplus
  Calling Nvidia niche feels a bit wild given their status-quo right now, but from a foundry perspective, it seems true. Apple is the anchor tenant that keeps the lights on across 12 different mature and leading-edge fabs.Nvidia is the high-frequency trader hammering the newest node until the arb closes. Stability usually trades at a discount during a boom, but Wei knows the smartphone replacement cycle is the only predictable cash flow. Apple is smart. If the AI capex cycle flattens in late '27 as models hit diminishing returns, does Apple regain pricing power simply by being the only customer that can guarantee wafer commits five years out?
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  ndr42
  I dislike this dramatization in reporting of mundane facts.So report the facts but sentences like "What Wei probably didn’t tell Cook is that Apple may no longer be his largest client" make it personal, they make you take sides, feel sorry for somebody, feel schadenfreude... (as you can observe in the comments)
• tim-tday
  Sneak preview of the TSMC shortage that will sweep the world in 2027 when China takes Taiwan and the TSMC scuttles their chip fabs on the island.I don’t know the hedge to position against this but I’m pretty sure China will make good on its promise.
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  YmiYugy
  It seems a bit odd that data center operators aren’t willing to put their money where their mouth is. Data center operators say: expand more quickly. TSMC says: we need long term demand to justify that. And all the data center guys say is: don’t worry that won’t be an issue, trust us. I would think that if they were serious they would commit to cofinancing new foundries or signing long term minimum purchasing agreements.
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  etempleton
  Explains why Apple is looking to diversify their fabs with Intel. If Intel can stay on their current trajectory and become a legitimate alternative they will do very well as a fan with additional available capacity.
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  01100011
  That's great! Apple has the resources to incentivize and invest in alternate production capacity(Intel, Samsung, or others). Sure, it will take years, but a thousand mile journey begins with one step...
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  JanSolo
  I'm surprised that Apple is not considering opening up its own fabs. Tim Cook is all about vertical-integration and they have a mountain of cash that they could use to fund the initial startup capex.
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  captain_coffee
  Legit question - what is the current status of the construction of chip production factories in the US?I know about the existence of the initiative but I don't know how it is progressing / what is actually going on on that front.
• mikelitoris
  How the turn tables
• HardCodedBias
  Nvidia direct silicon revenue is higher.Also Nvidia's margins are higher which means that they will be willing to pay a higher unit price.This seems like an open and closed case from TSMC's side.
• pjmlp
  Well, someone is tasting a bit of their own medicine.
• 2025codecracker
  It used to be „don’t use Wikipedia as an academic source“ now it’s the same wit ChatGPT
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  engineer_22
  I find that my cell phone which is 4 generations old and my desktop computer which is 2 generations old are totally adequate for everything I need to do, and I do not need faster processing
• WD-42
  Karma’s a bit.
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  outside1234
  Ha! Well if it isn't karma that has come for Apple.(Apple is well known for shoving "lesser vendors" out of the way at TSMC)
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  WesolyKubeczek
  ...and then China invades Taiwan, and nobody ain't getting nothing.
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  j4uie
  [flagged]
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  webdevver
  applesisters...
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  boxed
  Tim Cook failing on the Cook doctrine ("We believe that we need to own and control the primary technologies behind the products that we make") is ironic.
• j4uie
  pft Emotional intelligence damage ,, instant karma pov: apple be like
• 2OEH8eoCRo0
  Hey Apple, how does it feel?
• tonyplee
  Here's what G AI estimates when asked about "base on public data, estimate how many mm^2 of apple/Nvdia silicon are produce in TSMC for the past 3 years." Apple: 2023 A16, A17 Pro, M2, M3 ~330M ~135 ~4,455M 2024 A17 Pro, A18, M3, M4 ~350M ~150 ~5,250M 2025 A18, A19 (pre-launch), M4 ~415M ~200 ~8,300M NV: 2023 Ada (RTX 40), Hopper ~60M ~280 ~1,680M 2024 Hopper (H100), Blackwell ~85M ~450 ~3,825M 2025 Blackwell (B200), Rubin ~105M ~775 ~8,135M