Abstract:
Taiwanese media quoted supply chain sources as saying that TSMC is considering raising its CoWoS advanced packaging quotation again, and the increase may reach 10% to 20%; wafer foundries and packaging and testing plants are also evaluating similar adjustments. TSMC has not yet confirmed the price increase.
CoWoS is TSMC's packaging technology for advanced chips. It can integrate components such as computing chips and high-bandwidth memory (HBM) in the same package through a silicon interposer. As the demand for AI accelerators expands and advanced packaging orders increase, demand also expands from AI GPUs to server CPUs and customized ASICs, and undelivered orders in the supply chain continue to accumulate.
Both packaging and testing are facing capacity pressure. Supply chain sources said that the delivery period of relevant equipment has been extended from the past 3 to 6 months to 6 to 8 months. Customers are giving priority to ensuring delivery and no longer require TSMC equipment procurement price reductions or additional features as in previous years. According to Nomura Securities' estimates, the final test time of Nvidia's Blackwell chip is about 4 times that of Hopper, and the next generation Rubin may reach 7 times. This is an analyst's estimate, and it also means that the testing process may further squeeze production capacity.
In addition to the CoWoS packaging quotation, Taiwanese media also previously reported that TSMC plans to increase wafer foundry prices by approximately 3% to 6% starting from January 2027, with higher increases for advanced processes such as 2nm and 3nm. This also comes from supply chain news. TSMC has not publicly confirmed the specific price increase.
TSMC stated at a recent press conference that AI-related demand is strong and the company is accelerating the expansion of production capacity; CoWoS packaging with 5 times the mask area has entered mass production, and is developing larger size solutions while promoting CoPoS technology. GlobalFoundries has signed a multi-year, US$2 billion manufacturing agreement with TSMC. It will produce silicon interposers for TSMC's CoWoS supply chain in its New York state factory. It is expected to start ramping up mass production in the first half of 2028. It will be difficult to alleviate the current bottleneck in the short term.
If the price increase is finally implemented, the direct impact will mainly be on AI accelerators and data center chips using CoWoS. Game graphics cards usually do not use this type of packaging, so they will not be directly affected by the increase in CoWoS quotations; however, the increase in foundry prices may still be gradually transmitted to other chips and terminal products
Comments