TSMC pouring 100 billion in capacity expansion

TSMC is investing 100 billion dollars in R&D and manufacturing capacity expansions over the next three years. “We’re entering a period of higher growth as the multiyear megatrends of 5G and high-performance computing are expected to fuel strong demand for our semiconductor technologies in the next several years,” the foundry said in a statement to Reuters.

The unprecedented capex hike follows major investment and strategy announcements from Intel last week. The processor maker is spending 20 billion dollars on two new fabs in Arizona and, on top of upgrading its Irish fab to 7nm technology, it expects to announce the construction of a new fab in a European country within the year. Furthermore, Intel is giving foundry services another try, meaning it might start to compete with TSMC directly.