TSMC Likely Stays Apple's Top Chip Partner After Intel Deal

Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. is likely to remain Apple's main manufacturing partner after Apple reached a preliminary deal for Intel to make some chips, according to Taiwanese analysts.

TSMC retains an advantage in advanced packaging, chip yields, and power efficiency, which remain important for Apple's A-series and M-series processors, said Liu Pei-chen of the Taiwan Institute of Economic Research. Li Fang-kuo, chairman of President Capital Management, attributed Apple's reported talks with Intel to tighter TSMC capacity as AI chip demand from customers such as Nvidia rises, rather than concerns about TSMC's technology.