Driven by orders such as AI chips, TSMC 5nm and 4nm capacity utilization began to pick up.

February 23 news, according to foreign media reports, in the context of the decline in demand for consumer electronic products, the demand for chips is also significantly reduced, chip manufacturers are facing challenges, especially memory chip manufacturers.

Chip makers facing challenges, including TSMC, have expected revenue to decline in the first quarter of this year compared with the same period last year, ranging from $167m (CTOnews.com Note: currently about RMB 1152) to US $17.5 billion (CTOnews.com Note: currently about RMB 120.75 billion) 17. At the end of last year, it was also reported that the overall capacity utilization of TSMC would drop to 80% in the first half of this year. 7nm and 6nm processes will have the largest decline in capacity utilization, and the capacity utilization of 5nm and 4nm processes is expected to decline from January.

For TSMC's 5nm and 4nm process capacity utilization, some industry insiders say it has recently begun to pick up, mainly due to strong orders for AI chips and server processors with short delivery time.

5nm and 4nm processes, which account for a considerable proportion of TSMC's revenue, have surpassed 7nm for two consecutive quarters to become TSMC's largest source of revenue. The rebound in capacity utilization of these two major processes with high contract prices will also boost TSMC's revenue.

The AI chips and server processors that promote the recovery of capacity utilization in TSMC's 5nm and 4nm processes may be related to artificial intelligence chatbots such as ChatGPT, which has become popular recently. Training related artificial intelligence chatbots and maintaining the operation of related services require the support of servers and related chips.