Taiwan earthquake: Semiconductor chip makers to take a hit on supply disruptions, say analysts

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powerful 7.2-magnitude earthquake struck Taiwan's eastern coast near Hualien County on Wednesday morning, killing nine people and injuring more than 1,000. The island plays an outsized role in the global chip supply chain as it is home to the world's largest chipmaker, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co, which supplies chips to Apple and Nvidia.

The country also houses smaller chipmakers, including UMC, Vanguard International Semiconductor, and Powerchip Semiconductor Manufacturing. Manufacturers in Taiwan have been hardening their factories against earthquakes for decades and many use automatic shutdown systems to minimise damage to their production and tools, analysts said.

"For a lot of the tools that go into automatic shutdown, it can take you no more than 36 or 48 hours to bring them back up and re-qualify them," said Dan Hutcheson, vice chair at Canadian research firm TechInsights. "When you look at the business side of it - will this affect quarterly revenues? - the odds are it won't.

But it's going to be a real headache for everyone involved to get this stuff back up and running." Also Read | Taiwan earthquake aftermath caught on camera: Photos, videos capturing impact of 7.2 magnitude terror While most of their facilities are not close to the earthquake's epicenter, many of the firms said they had evacuated some of their manufacturing plants and shut down some facilities for inspections. TSMC said on Wednesday work at its construction sites, which has been halted, will resume after inspections, while impacted facilities are expected to restart production throughout the night.