TSMC to Raise Prices Across All Advanced Process Nodes, 7nm and Below

TSMC is preparing a sweeping price hike across all of its advanced manufacturing nodes, according to technology analyst Tim Culpan. The increase covers every process from 7nm down to the cutting-edge 3nm node — a move that will touch approximately 75% of the company’s wafer revenue and reshape the cost landscape for nearly every major chip designer on the planet.

Culpan reports that since the beginning of this year, TSMC’s senior management has been directing its business development and sales teams to find ways to push through higher quotes. The rationale, as relayed to the teams, is straightforward: memory chip makers have been enjoying a wave of price increases, and the world’s largest contract chipmaker sees no reason it shouldn’t get a piece of that action.

The price increases are expected to land in the range of 5% to 10%, and crucially, the scope extends well beyond the 3nm node that had been the subject of earlier speculation. TSMC is telling customers that every advanced node — defined as 7nm and below — will be affected. That encompasses the company’s N7, N6, N5, N4, N3, and future N2 process families, which together account for the lion’s share of TSMC’s revenue.

A $160 Billion Year

Culpan projects that TSMC’s full-year 2026 revenue will grow by at least 30%, surpassing the $160 billion mark for the first time in the company’s history. With the price hikes taking effect in the second half of the year, the second-half revenue alone is forecast to reach roughly $85 billion, with at least 80% of wafer revenue coming from advanced nodes.

The numbers underscore TSMC’s extraordinary leverage in the global semiconductor supply chain. As the sole manufacturer of the world’s most advanced chips — powering everything from Apple’s iPhones and Macs to NVIDIA’s AI accelerators and AMD’s server processors — TSMC occupies a position that leaves customers with few alternatives. Smaller rivals like Samsung Foundry and Intel Foundry Services have struggled to match TSMC’s yields and scale at the leading edge, giving the Taiwanese giant considerable pricing power.

For the broader tech industry, the implications are significant. Higher wafer costs will eventually work their way through the supply chain, potentially increasing the bill of materials for smartphones, PCs, data center hardware, and AI accelerators. Whether TSMC’s customers absorb the cost or pass it on to end users remains to be seen, but in an era of insatiable demand for advanced silicon — driven largely by the AI boom — the foundry appears confident that its customers will pay up.