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TSMC hikes chip prices up to 20% amid supply shortage

asia.nikkei.com

221–230 of 620 posts

Re: TSMC hikes chip prices up to 20% amid supply shortage

#221

Supply shortage is another way of saying demand excess. I don’t see much evidence that TSMC ever really slowed production, at least for their most advanced processes that are in high demand. This is yet another way we’re all forced to pay the price for cryptocurrency. As long as GPUs are profitable for mining, they will be purchased and put to work. The saddest part is that each additional GPU added to the mining net…

BTC GPU mining hasn't been profitable for years. ETH GPU mining (the main one) has gotten way less profitable recently and is scheduled to not be a thing in 6 months to a year. The GPU demand for mining has already lessened in the last months and you can see decreased 2nd hand prices..

Every comment that blames BTC for chip shortages is likely largely incorrect and looking in the wrong place.

Re: TSMC hikes chip prices up to 20% amid supply shortage

#222

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Are people mining crypto on PS5s and Xboxes?

No love for automotive infotainment systems and dashboard gauges? Those have actually caused real economic damage due to manufacturing shutdowns.

> No love for automotive infotainment systems

None at all, I hate those big display things.

Re: TSMC hikes chip prices up to 20% amid supply shortage

#223
post #154

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The end game is to transition to Proof of Stake, which doesn't have these problems and has other security advantages.

Not for Bitcoin. PoS is a broken system that reinvents oligarchies. Proof of Work is the only secure protocol that works today -- possessing the real, desirable properties like decentralization and censorship resistance. Don't tell me about vaporware ETH2. The end goal for Bitcoin is Dyson spheres around stars. And it can be no other way.

Do you think speculators/retail investors really care about the decentralization properties?

Re: TSMC hikes chip prices up to 20% amid supply shortage

#224
post #103

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Transaction fees will always make it economical to mine. They currently make up a small fraction of the block reward, but within a decade or two (5 block subsidy halvings), we can expect them to dominate. Btw, not all cryptocurrencies are deflationary [1]. [1] https://john-tromp.medium.com/a-case-for-using-soft-total-su...

A good example of non deflationary cryptocurrency is ethereum

That's certainly not a good example. The price has grown much faster than inflation in the western world, while the issuance of new currency has trended down, not only as a percentage of total money supply, but in nominal terms: https://www.wisdomtree.com/-/media/us-media-files/blog/blog-...

While in theory the community can elect to inflate the money supply, in practice the people who get to vote on the issue are holders of currency, who have strong incentives to restrict the supply and deflate the currency. If an inflationary EIP is proposed, these people will simply ignore it and stick to the deflationary chain.

Re: TSMC hikes chip prices up to 20% amid supply shortage

#225
post #94

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Miners will probably move to Ethereum classic.

If many miners move to another cryptocurrency, the difficulty for that network will go up, to the point that it's no longer profitable to mine it (electricity costs exceed income). Unless the price for the cryptocurrency goes up as well, but it won't magically do that just because of an influx of miners. After all, those other networks don't have the utility that Ethereum has.

Ethereum Classic will probably be 500 dollar at the end of this bull run. It will be worth it for miners.

Re: TSMC hikes chip prices up to 20% amid supply shortage

#227
post #121

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Their margin is approaching 40%. They're basically printing money at this point. It's hilarious how a manufacturer can be so profitable nowadays.

Genuine question because I’m unfamiliar with the market. Why aren’t competitors undercutting these big players? 40% is ridiculous

ASML is trying to increase the world's capacity by ramping up their production of EUV machines to 50 per year. [1] The ASML CEO stated it's probably not possible for the world to produce more than that. These machines are ~$150 million ea and building one is insanely complicated. [2]

[1] https://www.anandtech.com/show/15428/asml-ramps-up-euv-scann...

[2] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jJIO7aRXUCg

Re: TSMC hikes chip prices up to 20% amid supply shortage

#228

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Advocates will defend this by saying most energy usage is renewable. Even if true (iirc there is a lot of doubt whether it is, see Iran), it's still moronic, because consuming renewable energy for shits and giggles obviously means that other energy demands are being met with your usual energy mix instead of that renewable energy that went into shits and giggles as assumed. In terms of net emissions it simply doesn'…

Proof of work cryptos are a pox on society. That said they are some of the most location neutral energy consumers. This allows mining farms to be located adjacent to hydro dams or wind farms to get the cheapest energy and use energy that would otherwise be lost in transmission. 1TW is around 20% of global energy production. This is enough of a factor to impact manufacturing of renewable energy equipment. It allows th…

>This allows mining farms to be located adjacent to hydro dams or wind farms to get the cheapest energy and use energy that would otherwise be lost in transmission.

Sure, but there doesn't seem to be to be any indication that this is what actually happens. Is there any evidence for that?

Re: TSMC hikes chip prices up to 20% amid supply shortage

#229
post #167

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Sure, but 99% of people will sell, and the price will crash.

The people that need it won't sell. Bitcoin is most useful in countries already living under authoritarian rule with no access to traditional banking.

Almost none of bitcoins usage is by the people that need it.

Re: TSMC hikes chip prices up to 20% amid supply shortage

#230

> The company has said it will make $100 billion in capital investments over three years through 2023. >At the same time, "it will be very costly to manufacture in the U.S. and Japan," a member of the TSMC executive team said. The company is building a cutting-edge semiconductor facility in the U.S. state of Arizona and is considering opening its first Japanese chip plant in Kumamoto. TSMC heed the call of US to buil…

Chip making uses "a lot of water." (Parts of) Arizona is experiencing water shortage, particularly aquifer draw down.

I wonder what the effect of chip making in Arizona will be in Arizona, relative to other water use.

Parts of Arizona by law don't meter aquifer use, which disincentivizes current ag users to conserve, and has incentivized corporate ag to relocate there. (From memory, and I may have botched that memory)

I wonder if TSMC is locating in an unmetered location, or getting a formal water regulation break.

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