TSMC has reported record revenue of ~$26.3 billion for the October and December period of 2024, up 39 percent year-on-year (YoY) and beating analyst expectations.
The company’s December revenue was up 57.8 percent YoY to ~$8.4bn, with CNBC reporting that the company’s total sales for 2024, approximately $88bn, are the highest the company has seen since going public in 1994.
It should be noted that the $26.3bn figure is not Q4 revenue and is instead based on October – December monthly revenue that has not been adjusted for foreign exchange rates.
The news comes in the same week that independent journalist Tim Culpan reported that the chipmaker has secured a second Apple product for production at its Arizona fab, with the previously reported AMD product now being named as the Ryzen 9000, codenamed Grand Rapids.
The company is also reportedly in talks with Nvidia about manufacturing Blackwell at the site.
TSMC is building three fabs in Phoenix, Arizona, two of which will produce 4nm and 3nm semiconductors, and a third will manufacture 2nm chips. Production of Apple’s A16 Bionic chip is already underway at Fab 21, using TSMC’s N4P process, an extension of the company’s 5nm process family but which offers an 11 percent higher performance and 22 percent higher power efficiency when compared to N5.
In November 2024, the US government awarded TSMC $6.6 billion in direct funding under the CHIPS and Science Act to support the chipmaker’s $65bn investment in Arizona.
However, despite the record-breaking revenue, 2024 was not without its challenges for TSMC. In November, the company took the decision to stop production of advanced chips for Chinese semiconductor design firms after the US government opened an investigation into a potential sanctions breach.
The previous month it was revealed that an investigation was underway by the Department of Commerce after it received notification from TSMC that a customer had placed an order with the company for a chip that resembled Huawei’s Ascend 910B.
TSMC previously produced the chip’s predecessor for Huawei but has not worked with the company since US sanctions came into force in 2020. It has been noted that there is no suggestion that TSMC wilfully or maliciously violated US sanctions.
The chipmaker is also reportedly wary of being targeted by Trump’s incoming administration, particularly given his disparaging comments about the Taiwanese chip industry.
Speaking during an interview with Joe Rogan before the 2024 election, Trump said: "You know, Taiwan, they stole our chip business, okay?” Adding that the country should pay the US for protection from China.
