Apple’s iPhone production may face delay after virus outbreak at chip maker TSMC, analysts say
The timing of the virus incident at the world’s largest contract chip manufacturer could interfere with Apple’s new product launch next month
A computer virus unleashed last week at Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC), the world’s biggest contract chip maker, caused damage that could set back iPhone production through September, according to industry analysts.
A variant of the year-old WannaCry ransomware hobbled computer systems and factory tools at TSMC from Friday through Monday after a supplier installed software without a virus scan to the company’s computer network. The virus made machines crash and continually reboot.
While TSMC said manufacturing operations were fully restored on Monday, the virus outbreak may have damaged “some of the company’s most cutting-edge facilities used to build Apple’s A-series chips” for iPhones in production this year, said Lee Cheng-hwa, a senior industry analyst with the Market Intelligence & Consulting Institute in Taipei.
This incident has come at a sensitive period for Apple, which is preparing for its much-anticipated annual launch of new iPhone models next month after recording a market value of US$1 trillion last week.
Apple could introduce as many as three new iPhone models, along with upgrades of its iPad and Apple Watch, according to Jason Barry, a research analyst with Gap Intelligence in the United States. All of those devices have used TSMC-made chips in the past, he said.