TSMC delays advanced chip equipment, signaling Moore's Law slowdown
Source: Azeem Azhar, Exponential View
TSMC's decision to shelve ASML's High-NA EUV machines until 2029 exposes a hard economic reality: the cost of maintaining chip density improvements has become prohibitive even for the world's largest foundry. The decades-old assumption that each generation of chips gets smaller, faster, and cheaper is breaking. When the leading edge becomes too expensive to chase, the industry splits between premium players who can afford cutting-edge nodes and a broader market stuck on mature processes. This shifts both competition and investment patterns in semiconductors.