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Despite a ramp-up of orders for 7nm chips, TSMC is still seeing orders for other advanced process nodes remain sluggish which has kept its overall 12-inch fab capacity in oversupply, according to industry sources.

TSMC has seen 7nm chip orders from Hisilicon and AMD ramp up substantially in the second quarter, but orders for other 12-inch fabrication processes remain slow due to continued inventory adjustments at many of its PC and consumer electronics clients, the sources indicated.

The recent surge in 7nm chip orders is driven by the upcoming roll-outs of new-generation chip designs for 5G and AI applications, said the sources. On the other hand, TSMC continues seeing its customers engaged in the mobile device, PC and notebook, and consumer electronics sectors digesting their excessive inventories, the sources noted.

Meanwhile, despite a recent pick-up in orders for mature process technologies, TSMC is unlikely to see its 8-inch fab capacity fully utilized in the second quarter, the sources continued.

TSMC is expected to see 7nm chip orders become robust starting the third quarter of 2019, with the process utilization rate likely to top 100%, the sources indicated. In addition to Hisilicon and AMD, Apple, Qualcomm, Nvidia and MediaTek are reportedly among the foundry's major 7nm chip clients.

TSMC CEO CC Wei remarked at a recent investors meeting that the company will see its 7nm process utilization rate climb substantially in the second half of 2019, driven by a seasonal pick-up in demand for smartphones, as well as chip demand for HPC, IoT and automotive applications. TSMC expects the node technology to account for more than 25% of total wafer revenues this year.