Foundry Giants TSMC and Samsung Raise Prices as Advanced Process Costs Surge

2026-07-10

TSMC Implements Broad-Based Price Hikes Across Multiple Nodes

Foundry Giants TSMC and Samsung Raise Prices as Advanced Process Costs Surge

Recently, TSMC, the world's leading semiconductor foundry, formally notified major customers including Nvidia, Apple, AMD, and Qualcomm of plans to raise wafer fabrication prices by 5% to 10%. This price increase covers not only cutting-edge process nodes such as 3nm and 5nm, but also the 7nm process widely used in high-performance chip production.

According to industry sources, TSMC has implemented price adjustments of 8% to 10% for processes below 5nm starting in 2026, and has established a continuous four-year pricing increase plan. TSMC CEO C.C. Wei candidly stated at the shareholders' meeting that cost pressures and supply-demand gaps continue to widen, and the company's pricing strategy is strategic rather than opportunistic. Currently, TSMC's 3nm capacity has been fully booked by customers including Apple, Qualcomm, MediaTek, and Nvidia, with utilization rates approaching 100% in the first half of 2026.

Samsung Adopts Selective Pricing Strategy

Meanwhile, Samsung Electronics, the world's second-largest foundry, has also initiated price increases, but with a different approach from TSMC. Samsung has raised supply prices for new customers by approximately 15%, focusing primarily on advanced process nodes with high demand, including 4nm, 5nm, and certain automotive-grade 8nm processes.

Unlike TSMC's across-the-board price increases, Samsung focuses on adjusting prices at specific nodes where demand is highly concentrated, in order to support its own advanced process R&D and enhance medium- to long-term profitability. Currently, Samsung's 4nm and 8nm processes are operating at near-full capacity utilization, with stable yields having reached mature mass production stages. The 4nm process primarily serves high-end mobile processor and AI chip customers, while the 8nm process offers excellent cost-effectiveness advantages in the Internet of Things and display driver sectors.

Drivers and Impact of Price Increases

The core driver behind the simultaneous price increases by both foundry giants is the unprecedented chip demand stemming from the explosive growth of artificial intelligence infrastructure. TSMC's Arizona facility capacity has been fully booked through 2027, with 2nm process wafer prices expected to reach as high as $30,000 per wafer, representing an increase of approximately 50% compared to 3nm. Downstream chip design companies are facing sharply rising cost pressures, and prices for end products such as smartphones, GPUs, and AI accelerators may consequently climb. Consumers are facing significant price pass-through effects, as the global semiconductor supply chain accelerates into a new era of high-cost operations.

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