According to the latest news, TSMC and other wafer foundries have proposed some new profit-taking order models for IC design, including adopting diversified strategies, such as tying quantity without tying price, and extending wafer production volume. Among them, IC design manufacturers estimate that the average drop in wafer foundry prices in the first quarter of next year may reach about 10 to 20%. In addition, TSMC plans to resume price discounts for mature processes, with a range of about 2%.

Wafer foundries are facing the challenge of declining capacity utilization. In order to improve utilization, some manufacturers have adopted drastic price reduction strategies, and the reduction for some customers has even reached 15% to 20%. Analysts believe that despite the recent recovery in the PC and mobile phone markets, customers still consider external factors such as inflation. In order to avoid order losses and destocking, manufacturers have adopted conservative production strategies, which may lead to even lower production capacity utilization.