Hello, from Taiwan! I am writing this on the high-speed train back to Taipei from Hsinchu after Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing’s annual general meeting. Like last year, TSMC booked a hotel and asked its hundreds of shareholders to divide into small groups and watch a live stream of the event in separate guest rooms. The management team hosted the event from the hotel’s otherwise empty ballroom.
TSMC’s caution reflects the fact that Taiwan is still in the grip of its most serious Covid wave, with more than 2mn people contracting the virus in the past two months alone. The Taiwanese chip titan — which has managed to keep production going smoothly through three years of the pandemic — continues to keep a tight rein on interactions between its executives and the outside world.
Some things, however, are proving more difficult to control. Chairman Mark Liu acknowledged for the first time that costs for building its cutting-edge US chip plant are higher than expected, while hiring is also proving more of a challenge. TSMC said it is also keeping a close eye on inflation, though it still expects healthy revenue growth this year.