TAIPEI -- Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. plans to prioritize production of auto chips if it is able to further increase capacity, Taiwan's Economics Ministry told Reuters, amid a global shortage that has hampered car production.
A ministry official said Minister Wang Mei-hua spoke to senior company executives on Sunday about the issue.
TSMC had told the ministry it will "optimize" the production process of chips to make it more efficient and prioritize auto chip production if it is able to further increase capacity, the ministry said.
TSMC, the world's largest contract chipmaker, said current production capacity is full, but had assured the ministry that "if production can be increased by optimizing production capacity, it will cooperate with the government to regard automotive chips as a primary application."
TSMC, in a statement to Reuters, referred to comments from its CEO C.C. Wei on an earnings call this month.
"Other than con…