Unfortunately in the early hours of this Wednesday, There was an earthquake in Taiwan and it was the largest in the last 25 years. So far, 9 deaths and the evacuation of many public and private properties have been reported.. It should not be forgotten that Taiwan is home to TSMC, one of Apple’s largest suppliers. In the next few hours The effect of this earthquake on chip production will be evaluated.

TSMC’s facilities in Taiwan were evacuated due to earthquake

According to information from Bloomberg, TSMC evacuates staff from all Taiwan facilities. In addition to being Apple’s main chip manufacturer, it is also responsible for Nvidia’s production. The biggest challenge is that a single vibrationIt doesn’t matter how small it is, can destroy entire batches of semiconductors produced. These require weeks of vacuum insulation. At this time, no regrettable victims have been reported at TSMC facilities.

Chip manufacturing process by TSMC

The 7.4 magnitude earthquake caused damage to part of TSMC’s infrastructure. Some internal sources state that the factory that suffered the most structural damage was the N3 factory.. Machines producing chips smaller than 7 nanometers were stopped. There are also cracks in the walls of research and development laboratories.

There may be delays in the supply chain of Apple products

They are expected to be able to continue operations throughout the day, but only partially., they will first need to ensure they have the full scope of the impact on the supply chain. Note that all current Apple chips (A and M series) are manufactured by TSMC. This occurs within the framework of an increase in production. To be fully prepared for upcoming product launches, including the new iPad Pro and iPad Air.

TSMC engineer during chip manufacturing process

One of the major earthquakes that hit this region occurred in 1999. After what happened, TSMC resorted to a new development in disaster preparedness. They then implemented seismic management measures to reduce risks, in addition to comprehensive inspections and the installation of technologies that help reduce vibrations in the equipment.

We hope there will be no more regrettable losses from iPadizate more than 9 reported so far and recovery from this disaster is quick.