TSMC is reportedly hiking prices for 'all advanced nodes,' accounting for 74% of the company’s wafer business — Nvidia, AMD, Apple, Qualcomm, and others will face higher wafer costs

TSMC has reportedly told customers to prepare for price increases across its advanced chipmaking portfolio, extending the hikes beyond the newer 3nm process to include 7nm and even legacy products. According to a June 23rd Culpium report, the increases would affect the bulk of TSMC’s wafer revenue and could raise costs for major chip designers, including Apple, Nvidia, AMD, Qualcomm, Broadcom, and MediaTek.

The exact size of the increases remains unclear, as figures would reportedly vary by customer, node, and product category, but generally appear to fall in the 5% to 10% range. TSMC price increases have reportedly already started rolling out in some cases, while other customers have been told to build the higher cost structure into future purchase orders.

The company declined to discuss specific pricing with Culpium. “TSMC does not comment on pricing. Our pricing strategy is strategic, not opportunistic,” the company said in a statement to the publication. “We will continue to work closely with customers and sell our value to them.” Although the company had earlier said it would refrain from raising prices.

Earlier reports from Taiwanese media had mainly pointed to increases at TSMC’s 3nm node, one of its most advanced processes currently used for premium smartphones, PC, and AI chips, with price pressure also expected at the newest 2nm-class production. However, Culpium reports that TSMC has informed clients that “all advanced nodes” will become more expensive, meaning the hikes would extend beyond 3nm and 2nm to include older but still advanced processes such as 5nm and 7nm.

3nm alone accounted for 25% of TSMC’s wafer revenue in the first quarter of 2026, while the company’s full advanced-node portfolio — defined by TSMC as 7nm and more advanced technologies — accounted for 74% of wafer revenue. Therefore, the hikes would span nearly three-quarters of the company’s wafer business.

The inclusion of 7nm is especially notable because the node is no longer TSMC’s flagship technology. However, it's not exactly surprising as 7nm remains heavily used across processors, accelerators, networking silicon, and other high-performance chips. Many products remain on older, more advanced nodes because they offer better cost, yield, and maturity than the newest processes, especially when a design does not require the density or efficiency gains of 3nm or 2nm.

The client notices follow weeks of public comments from TSMC executives suggesting that higher prices were at least under consideration. At the company’s annual shareholders’ meeting in Hsinchu on June 4, CEO C.C. Wei said customers remained positive on the AI demand outlook, while also acknowledging cost pressures and the widening gap between chip demand and available manufacturing capacity. CFO Wendell Huang also said earlier that TSMC did not rule out price increases as inflation, overseas expansion, and advanced manufacturing costs continue to rise.

The timing of the price increases reflects TSMC’s strong negotiating position. The company remains the dominant manufacturer of leading-edge logic chips, and its most advanced capacity is in high demand among AI accelerator vendors, smartphone chip designers, and custom ASIC developers. With customers competing for access to the same manufacturing lines, TSMC has more room to pass on rising costs than it would in a weaker cycle.

The move also comes as TSMC benefits from a surge in AI-related demand. In its first-quarter results, the company reported $35.9 billion in revenue and a 66.2% gross margin, both supported by strong demand for high-performance computing and advanced-node production. TSMC has also raised its 2026 revenue growth target to more than 30%, with capital spending expected to remain elevated as the company expands capacity in Taiwan, the U.S., Japan, and Germany. The company’s Arizona manufacturing capacity has been sold out through 2027 since early 2025.

The reported increases are still far smaller than the recent price spikes seen in the memory market, where AI-driven demand for HBM and other high-end memory products has allowed suppliers to push through much steeper increases. Conversely, TSMC does not need memory-style pricing to meaningfully improve its margins. Because advanced nodes account for most of its wafer revenue, even a mid-single-digit increase across that base could add billions of dollars in annual revenue if demand remains strong.

For chip designers, the immediate impact is a higher manufacturing bill. For consumers, the effect is less direct but still important. A 5% to 10% wafer price increase does not automatically translate into a 5% to 10% increase in the price of a GPU, CPU, smartphone, or laptop, since the wafer is only one part of the final product cost. However, when combined with higher memory prices, packaging constraints, AI demand, and rising manufacturing costs, it creates another reason for device makers and component vendors to raise prices or protect margins by cutting costs elsewhere.

Follow Tom's Hardware on Google News, or add us as a preferred source, to get our latest news, analysis, & reviews in your feeds.