With the escalating costs of water, electricity, and raw materials, combined with a growing demand for manpower and production capacity—not to mention geopolitical factors prompting a diversified production capacity strategy—wafer foundries are under mounting cost pressures. Powerchip Semiconductor Manufacturing Corporation (PSMC) and Vanguard International Semiconductor Corporation have already raised their foundry prices one after another. United Microelectronics Corporation (UMC) also intends to selectively implement price hikes in the latter half of this year and has issued a warning about a potential across-the-board price adjustment next year.
