On December 17, foreign media reported that TSMC, the foundry company, will cancel the original discounted price, which is equivalent to a price increase in disguise.

    TSMC previously offered a discount of about 3% when OEM 12-inch wafers for major customers, but in 2021, they will cancel this discount. After the price discount is cancelled, it means that major customers’ OEM costs will be reduced accordingly. And rise. A few days ago, the news of Volkswagen’s production suspension due to chip shortages has exposed the tense situation of automotive chips, and the chain reaction is gradually emerging.

    The media has also repeatedly reported that the 8-inch wafer foundry production capacity is tight, the delivery time is extended, the annual orders of several major foundries are full, and most of TSMC's production capacity is even scheduled for the third quarter of next year. In this case, OEMs are considering increasing the OEM price increase in 2021 by 10% to 20%, but TSMC has made it clear that it will not increase prices. The change in attitude shows that the demand for production capacity is indeed very large.

    TSMC is the world's largest wafer foundry and a leading manufacturer in process technology. It currently has six 12-inch ultra-large wafer fabs. The foundry's business comes from a professional design company for automotive chips and an automotive IDM (integrated component manufacturer) with a fab. In the automotive chip industry, Bosch and NXP occupy most of this market. Beginning around 2000, IDM began to gradually outsource such production to foundries due to the high cost of building new wafer fabs and developing cutting-edge processes.

    In the report, the English media mentioned that TSMC’s 12-inch foundry customers, including manufacturers such as Apple, AMD, and Nvidia, would cancel the discounts as reported, and these vendors’ foundry prices at TSMC would Rise, and then compress their product profit margins or push up product prices. There has been news that chip manufacturers NXP and Renesas have raised prices before.

    With the surge in demand for semiconductor products in assisted driving and autonomous driving, foundries are increasing the productivity of automotive chips. In addition, the electronic product market is booming, and there is a strong demand for foundry capacity. Even large factories like TSMC are under greater pressure, and their advanced manufacturing capacity is currently not surplus. OEMs are facing pressure on production capacity, and price increases are inevitable. It's just how big the specific increase is, and there is no exact pricing yet.

    Li Shaohua, deputy secretary-general of the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers and Minister of Industry Development, said that as companies in all links of the industry chain are lengthening the stocking cycle, and the short-term chip production capacity is still insufficient, chip prices may rise or inevitable.

    Not only are auto chips facing price increases, but auto parts are also experiencing price increases. For example, tire companies. It is reported that some foreign tire companies such as Hankook and Jiatong have begun to raise prices by more than 5%. The production of rubber, the main raw material of tires, has been reduced this year. As a result, the price of rubber has increased significantly compared with the beginning of the year. The price of natural rubber has increased by more than 30% and the price of synthetic rubber has increased by about 50%.

    Moreover, the price of wheel hubs has also shown signs of rising, because the recent continuous increase in aluminum prices has exceeded the 16,000 yuan/ton mark, and many aluminum rim wheel companies have issued price increases, and the price increase range is 20-100 yuan/piece (piece) Not waiting.