TSMC plans record capex in 2025

In a good omen for semiconductor equipment makers, TSMC plans to hike capex to 38-42 billion US dollars this year, up as much as 40 percent from 30 billion dollars in 2024. Most of the investments, 70 percent, will be allocated to advanced process development, supporting advancements in the AI, high-performance computing (HPC) and smartphone markets. The remainder targets specialty technologies (20-30 percent) and packaging (10-20 percent). In the Q4 earnings call, TSMC CEO CC Wei indicated that although AI currently remains the primary driving force of semiconductor growth, other segments would see mild recovery as well.