tsmc faces scrutiny over huawei ai chip shipments

tsmc faces scrutiny over huawei ai chip shipments

2025-04-20 tsmc

Hsinchu, Sunday, 20 April 2025.
tsmc is under pressure. Reports surfaced alleging the company shipped advanced ai chips to huawei. These shipments raise concerns about technology transfer and export regulations. tsmc denies these allegations and insists on its compliance. since september 2020, tsmc has ceased all shipments to huawei. the u.s. government and tech insights are investigating huawei’s ascend chips. they are trying to determine if tsmc’s technology was used. tsmc’s revenue reached $25.53 billion in q1 2025, a 35.3% increase.

The situation introduces geopolitical risks for tsmc [1]. These risks could affect its relationships with international clients [1]. Compliance with applicable laws is a priority for tsmc [1]. The company is committed to taking prompt action and conducting due diligence [1]. Tsmc communicates with the commerce department regarding suspicious orders [1]. These communications will continue in the future [1]. Tsmc’s adherence to trade regulations is vital for maintaining investor confidence [1].

Competitive landscape and huawei’s ai advancements

Huawei has launched its cloudmatrix 384 supernode, rivaling nvidia’s nvl72 ai [2]. The cloudmatrix 384 uses 384 ascend 910c chips, delivering 300 petaflops of dense bf16 compute [2]. This system has been deployed in huawei’s data centers [2]. While huawei’s solution offers greater memory capacity and bandwidth, it consumes nearly four times the power of nvidia’s nvl72 [2][6]. Despite the power inefficiency, some analysts suggest that power availability in china mitigates this concern [2].

Tsmc’s financial performance and ai boom

Tsmc’s strong position in advanced chip manufacturing benefits from the ai boom [3]. In q1 2025, tsmc shipped 3.26 million wafers, a 7.6% year-on-year increase [3]. The company’s revenue rose by 35.3% to $25.53 billion [3]. Net income also increased by 53% year-on-year, reaching $10.97 billion [3]. High performance computing (hpc) sector sales reached $15.1 billion, a 73.5% increase [3]. Ai-related chip sales accounted for $6 billion of tsmc’s sales in q1 2025 [3].

Strategic investments and capacity expansion

Tsmc plans significant capital expenditures between $38 billion and $42 billion in 2025 [3]. The company’s ceo, c.c. wei, announced a $100 billion investment, including new foundries and facilities in the u.s. [3]. Tsmc expects volume production of the n2 process in the second half of 2025 [3]. The a16 process is slated for volume production in the second half of 2026 [3]. Tsmc is also working to double its cowos interposer technology to meet high demand [3].

Huawei’s ascend 920 and market impact

Huawei introduced the ascend 920 ai chip, aiming to fill the void left by nvidia’s h20 [4]. The ascend 920 is expected to enter mass production in the latter half of 2025 [4]. It is projected to exceed 900 tflops per card with 4 tb/s memory bandwidth [4]. Huawei also unveiled its ai cloudmatrix 384 solution [4]. This solution outperforms nvidia’s gb200 but consumes more power [4]. These advancements could attract attention from chinese companies [4].

Bronnen


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