Other companies are now competing against Apple for chips manufactured by TSMC or Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. due to the rising demand for AI, which is reshaping customer priority and capacity. The company no longer has a guarantee of preferential access to TSMC’s manufacturing capacity.
Accelerators for AI take up considerably more wafer area for each unit compared to system-on-chips for smartphones, suggesting that a small portion of customers for AI are able to consume advanced manufacturing with a disproportionate share.
This hints that Apple may have to deal with higher costs for silicon for chip manufacturing in the future to compete against AI consumers who are willing to pay for priority access at a premium price. Apple is not likely to ship products because of the lack of wafers, but sustained pressure on pricing could affect margins and strategies in upcoming years.
