More fabless IC design houses are seeking wafer production capacity at Samsung Electronics, Globalfoundries, United Microelectronics Corporation (UMC) and Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corporation (SMIC) due to extremely tight production at Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC), according to industry sources.

Production capacity of TSMC's 8- and 12-inch wafers is fully booked currently as TSMC has begun volume production of 20nm chips for Apple as well as other peripheral chips for iPhone, iPad and iWatch, the sources noted.

For instance, TSMC's 0.18-micron production capacity at its 8-inch fabs is almost all allocated for production of fingerprint identification sensors for iPhone, and the 90nm production capacity is designated for production of Wi-Fi and Bluetooth chips for Apple's other products, added the sources.

Taiwan-based LCD driver IC and analog IC vendors, which have been relying heavily on 8-inch production capacity at TSMC, have also voiced concerns of possible disruption in IC supplies, and therefore may seek production support from other foundry houses, said the sources.

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