TSMC Price Hikes Confirmed by Crypto Chip Giant
Bitmain, a leading developer of application specific integrated circuits (ASIC) for cryptocurrency mining and the maker of Antminer machines, has confirmed that Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. (TSMC) had notified its customers about planned price increases for chip production.
"On the morning of [August] 25, TSMC notified all customers that all semiconductor processes will increase their prices by 20% from now on," a by Bitmain reads.
Bitmain is a Chinese mainland company that depends on TSMC leading-edge processes. Is it likely that this price hike is actually for Chinese companies, to squeeze out as much as possible from Chinese companies before China's domestic capability matures, just like how Russia kept increasing Soyuz seat price for NASA as SpaceX kept getting closer and closer to making their own spaceship.
Prices are negotiated with each company separately right? How is Bitmain going to know what price Qualcomm is paying to TSMC.