TSMC confirms that it is taking no new orders from Huawei

TSMC has reportedly suspended all business with the electronics giant Huawei. This move has been made in order to comply with new and stringent trade regulations that prevent US and (more recently) non-US companies doing business with this company.

Accordingly, TSMC will not fulfill orders of chips to Huawei's specifications that were placed on May 15, 2020 or later. Therefore, the smartphone maker will see its last shipment from the Taiwanese silicon contractor on or after September 14 of the same year.

TSMC investors and fans may worry about the void that the sudden absence of this business may have created - Huawei had been a major trading partner of this company's, after all. However, its chairman, Mark Liu, has said it is "progressing relatively well" in attracting new orders that will take up the excess left in its inventory.

The chip-maker had been projected to earn third-quarter (3Q2020) revenues of about US$10.7 billion. However, it now estimates that it might make up to $11.5 billion for the same period instead. It had also predicted it would make about 20% more in 2020 compared to the preceding year, mainly based on the enthusiasm for 5G-capable chipsets from OEMs that it saw coming.

Now, TSMC asserts that it is still on track to make this growth, Huawei orders or no. Furthermore, it now intends to raise its capital investment level by an additional $1-2 billion, or a possible total of $17 billion, in 2020.