Chip giant TSMC struggles with virus infections at its factories

Many of the tech products launching this fall might have just run into production setbacks. Giant chip manufacturer TSMC has warned that several of its fabrication plants suffered virus infections on August 3rd, disrupting production. Some of these plants recovered in a "short period of time," it said, but others wouldn't resume business as usual for "one day." The company dismissed claim s that this was a hack, but didn't initially provide details about the virus or the potential infection path.

TSMC promised more information on August 6th.

A lost day of production might not sound like much, but it could be huge depending on the circumstances. TSMC builds chips for many of the industry's biggest names, including Apple, AMD, NVIDIA and Qualcomm. Even a 24-hour disruption might cause device shortages, however brief, and this may be particularly serious for companies making low-volume devices (such as high-end graphics cards). It might not ruin a big product launch, but it might take longer for gadgets to reach your hands.

Source: Bloomberg



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