Apple seen hit by virus outbreak at chipmaker Taiwan Semiconductor, says Digitimes

Smartphone behemoth Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) was likely among those affected by a computer virus which struck iPhone chipmaker Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co Ltd (NYSE:TSM) and this could hit shipments during the vital third quarter of the year, a report by Digitimes said.

Taiwan Semiconductor puts together chip solutions for Apple and other mobile device makers, according to Digitimes. The virus hit on the evening of August 3 and forced Taiwan Semiconductor to suspend some of its fab tools in Taiwan.

The company’s major 12-inch fabs – Fab 12 at the Hsinchu Science Park (HSP) and Fab 15 at the Central Taiwan Science Park (CTSP) – are among those impacted by the virus outbreak, Digitimes said quoting industry sources. Some of the fabs were shut down for up to 10 hours and damaged thousands of computer wafers.

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Oppenheimer said in a research note the virus infection “has raised concerns about its impact on the foundry house’s shipments particularly its 7nm chip output during the third quarter, a traditionally peak season for the contract chipmaker’s clients such as Apple.”

Digitimes said that at Fab 15, Taiwan Semiconductor is ramping up its 7nm chip output to fulfill orders that are mainly from Apple, AMD (NASDAQ:AMD), Qualcomm (NASDAQ:QCOM), Nvidia (NASDAQ:NVDA), Xilinx Inc (NASDAQ:XLNX) and several ASIC developers. 

Story by ProactiveInvestors