Taiwan's TSMC says electricity now restored after brief island-wide power dip

Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC), the world's biggest contract chipmaker, said some of its facilities experienced a "brief power dip" on Thursday after an island-wide power outage, raising concerns that a global chip shortage could worsen.

The shortage began late last year and has since affected several industries, from automobiles to smartphones and home appliances, forcing many carmakers to halt production lines.

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It was worsened in recent months by a fire at a chip plant in Japan and blackouts in Texas, where a number of chipmakers have factories.

It was not immediately clear how much TSMC's, chip production has been impacted by the power outage and whether other chipmakers in the island, a key link in the global electronics supply chain, suffered production damage.

"Certain TSMC's facilities experienced a brief power dip in the afternoon of May 13 due to an outage at the Hsinta Thermal Power Plant," TSMC said in a statement.

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"Electricity is currently being supplied as normal. TSMC has taken emergency response measures and prepared generators to minimize potential impact."

TSMC, whose clients include Apple Inc and Qualcomm Inc, has said tackling the shortage remained its top priority.

Last month, Chief Executive C C Wei said TSMC had worked with customers since January to reallocate more capacity to support the auto industry.