You ain't gotta be a genius to predict that the wildly fluctuating tariffs might leave your next graphics card's cost like a roller coaster 🎢
TSMC, the world's leading chip manufacturer, admits it struggles to meet AI hardware demand despite uncertainties in tariff implications.
But apparently, it hasn't deterred Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC) from churning out as many GPUs as freakin' possible 🚀
Speaking at TSMC's shareholder meeting today (Reuters), CEO C.C. Wei stated that tariffs have yet to cause a significant impact on the company. "I can guarantee you that AI demand has always been steamin' hot and outpacing supply," Wei said cooly.
He did admit that TSMC ain't entirely immune to tariffs. "Tariffs do have a sneaky impact on TSMC, but not up close. That's 'cause tariffs are levied on importers, not exporters. TSMC is an exporter. However, tariffs can kick up prices a tad, and when prices inflate, demand might dip," he explained.
Despite that, the company's stillamped up to the max on production volume. One aspect of TSMC's operations that might not be revvin' at full throttle, however, is its investment in new production facilities or factories (fabs) in the U.S.
Reuters reports that Wei and President Trump have discussed difficulties in completing TSMC's full investment program, worth a whopping $165 billion, within five years. You see, part of the problem is that tariffs crank up the cost of production in the U.S. because some equipment needed to set up the fabs needs to be shipped in from Asia. Wei says President Trump told him, "Mr Wei, do your best, that's good enough."
So if you've been wonderin' if there's any chance that tariffs might somehow conspire to make GPUs for gaming slightly easier to grab, maybe by reducin' demand for AI chips, that doesn't seem to be the case.
However, outside the U.S., many (if not most) of Nvidia's GPUs can now be snatched up at MSRP or even cheaper. So it looks like graphics card pricing is finally swingin' towards what feels like the normalcy of yesteryear.
But hey, it's hard to know what's next. The U.S. courts seem to be movin' closer to puttin' some guardrails around the more volatile elements of Trump's tariff fluctuations. But until that brewin' dispute hits the Supreme Court, it's impossible to say how it all pans out.
To put it bluntly, you'd be a real ballsy one to say it's game over for Trump's tariff brouhaha.
CPU and gaming: Top picks from Intel and AMD. Gaming motherboard: The right boards. Best graphics card: The pixel-pushin' wonder for you. SSD for gaming: Get into the game first.
Jeremy Laird I've been writing about tech and PCs since the 90nm Netburst era (Google it!) and can't get enough of sewin' up the technical details of monitor input lag and overshoot, delv'n into advanced lithography, or talkin' 'bout machines that go "ping!" I'm also partial to tennis and cars.
- The rapidly changing tariffs potentially pose a challenge to the finance sector, as calculated costs for gaming cards can resemble a roller coaster ride, according to a recent text.
- Despite the unpredictable effects of tariffs, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC) is working tirelessly to produce as many GPUs as possible, specifically engineered for the gaming industry.
- During TSMC's shareholder meeting, CEO C.C. Wei acknowledged that tariffs have some impact on their business, indirectly increasing costs and potentially reducing demand.
- The ongoing discussions between TSMC CEO Wei and President Trump involve challenges in completing TSMC's full investment program for new production facilities, due to the increased production costs brought on by tariffs and equipment shipping from Asia.
