Dec. 27, 2022 /SemiMedia/ -- Dr. C. C. Wei, CEO of TSMC, said recently that semiconductor inventory reached its peak in the third quarter of 2022 and began to adjust in the fourth quarter. It is expected that the inventory adjustment will continue until the first half of 2023, and the capacity utilization rate will not fully recover until the second half of 2023.

According to reports, the capacity utilization rate of second-tier wafer foundries has begun to decline since the third quarter of 2022, while TSMC has begun to decline since the fourth quarter, and the decline will increase significantly in the first half of 2023. When customer orders increase in the second half of the year and Apple enters the peak shipping season, the proportion of 3nm and 5nm orders will increase, and the performance is expected to rebound significantly.

Except for TSMC, wafer foundries whose capacity utilization rate and performance have been declining are more conservative and cautious about the outlook for 2023. It is estimated that most of the overall supply chain will still be difficult to get out of the inventory adjustment period in the first half of next year.

TSMC also admitted that starting from the fourth quarter of 2022, the utilization rate of 7nm/6nm capacity will no longer be at the high point of the past three years. This situation is expected to last until the first half of 2023, and the demand for 7nm/6nm is expected to pick up in the second half of 2023.