World's largest chipmaker does not rule out price rises as costs increase

The world's largest chipmaker has told the BBC that inflation is pushing up the cost of doing business, and did not rule out price rises.

Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC) makes the most advanced chips designed by companies such as Nvidia, AMD and Apple, so any increase in pricing could ripple through to the cost of AI infrastructure, and potentially over time, the prices customers pay for their electronic devices.

However, the firm's chief financial officer, Wendell Huang, said it would not introduce sudden "fourfold, fivefold" price rises. "We reflect our value," he said, pointing to its "technology leadership" and "manufacturing excellence".

In an exclusive and wide-ranging interview, Huang also denied that the AI boom was a bubble and that the firm's global expansion was due to geopolitical pressure.

The global chip industry and TSMC sit at the centre of escalating US-China trade tensions, with Washington pressing leading chipmakers to expand production in the US to secure critical supply chains.

Taiwan, the US ally and self-governed island that Beijing claims, produces the majority of the world's most advanced chips, the tiny processors that sit inside smartphones, laptops and AI data centres.

Chinese President Xi Jinping warned at a recent summit with US President Donald Trump that mishandling Taiwan could put the relationship between the two superpowers in an "extremely dangerous situation".

The BBC travelled to Hsinchu Science Park, a dense cluster of fabrication plants or "fabs" north of the capital Taipei, for TSMC's annual shareholder meeting and for a rare interview with Huang.