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Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturers (TSMC), the world’s largest chip maker, has rejected a report of its partnership with sick US rival Intel in its first public comment on an idea promoted by Trump administration officials.
TSMC “was not engaged in discussions with other companies about joint ventures, technology licensing, technology transfer and sharing,” CC Wei’s chief executive told investors Thursday.
Over the past two months, talks have been reported on potential deals to help TSMC acquire minority stakes in Intel and help US chip makers operate manufacturing plants or Fabs.
Wei has stated in the past that TSMC has no interest in Intel’s Fabs. Those familiar with the situation say that the stance has not changed, but Trump officials have repeatedly put pressure on the company to help Intel rescue.
Those familiar with TSMC’s business and other industry insiders said that attempts to convert Intel Fab to contracted chip makers could cost more money if they take years to build something new.
Intel’s proposal was part of the massive disruption that the Trump administration’s tariff and industrial policy moves bring to the tech industry.
On Thursday, TSMC maintained its bullish forecast of growth of nearly 25% this year by leveraging the revenues of its artificial intelligence chips, but warned that US trade policies could further dilute profit margins and undermine demand.
“We are particularly minding the potential impact of all the recent tariff announcements on final demand,” Wei said. “That being said, I’m stuck with forecasts because I’m not seeing any change in customer behavior right now.”
Many of the US’s major trading partners, including TSMC’s home country of Taiwan, are negotiating a deal to reduce sudden tariffs announced by Trump and suspend this month. Separately, Washington is investigating whether it will impose a set of different tariffs across the high-tech hardware supply chain, including semiconductors, other components, and the tools to make them.
Following pressure from Trump officials, TSMC more than doubled its investment in US manufacturing capacity, building a total of six fabs and two advanced packaging facilities last month.
TSMC has provided new details about the investment and said it is working hard to advance the commerce startup at its second Arizona plant scheduled for 2028. Wei said TSMC will try to move it forward in “at least a few quarters.”
It will narrow the technological gap between cutting-edge chip production in Taiwan and the US. The second Arizona Fab creates a 3-nanometer chip. This is a technology that will become one generation of 2nm chips that will begin to be produced in Taiwan this year in 2028.
However, management said tariffs will be heavily reduced to the company’s gross profit range over the next five years, and are affected by capacity expansion overseas, which already has higher construction and operational costs than Taiwan.
Chief Financial Officer Wendell Fan said that if the previously forecast dilution of gross profits increases by 2-3% per year, it will expand to up to 4% towards the end of that five years.
According to WEI, 30% of TSMC’s 2NM and new process technology capacity will take place in Arizona when all the fabs they plan to build are run. This is roughly along with the analyst estimates, but could only be reached after 2030.
TSMC reported that 60% of its first quarter net income increased its net income by 60% compared to the same period last year. Net profit spiked to $36.156 billion ($1.13 billion), driving up to 58.8% of total margins near the top of guidance management three months ago. Revenues rose 41.6% to $839.3 billion, in line with the company’s forecast given in January.
