Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC), the world’s leading contract chip manufacturer, is poised to make a crucial decision this week regarding its potential investment in the initial public offering (IPO) of chip designer Arm Holdings, according to Chairman Mark Liu.
Speaking during the SEMICON Taiwan summit, Liu affirmed that TSMC is currently in the process of evaluating the prospective investment. When questioned about the expected timeline for this decision, Liu responded succinctly, “this week.”
Liu emphasized the pivotal role that Arm plays within TSMC’s ecosystem, its technology, and its customers’ ecosystem. “Arm is an important element of our ecosystem, our technology, and our customers’ ecosystem. We want it to be successful; we want it to be healthy. That’s the bottom line,” stated Liu.
On Tuesday, Arm Holdings, a subsidiary of SoftBank Group (TYO:9984), initiated the roadshow for its IPO, seeking to persuade investors that it is worth as much as $52 billion, making it this year’s most significant share sale.
Arm has already secured the commitment of several major clients as cornerstone investors for its IPO, including tech giants such as Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL), Nvidia (NASDAQ:NVDA), Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL), Advanced Micro Devices (NASDAQ:AMD), Intel (NASDAQ:INTC), and Samsung Electronics (KS:005930).
Regarding Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co Ltd’s (TSMC) $40 billion investment in a significant project in the U.S. state of Arizona, Chairman Liu expressed confidence in its ultimate success. “I just came from Arizona last month. Any project breaking new ground will encounter a learning curve. Over the past five months, the progress has been remarkable. I am confident it will evolve into a highly successful project,” he affirmed.
In July, TSMC announced a delay in the commencement of production at its first chip fabrication facility, or fab, in Arizona. The delay was attributed to a shortage of specialized workers, with production now scheduled to begin in 2025.
