Taiwan power outage hits TSMC Apple chip factory

This is the hugest pile of iPhones you can imagine — think how many hours of work and development it represents.

Electricity supplies in Taiwan’s two biggest cities and iPhone processor production hub failed today in a massive blackout that doesn’t yet seem to have been resolved.

The energy supply problem

In excess of 5 million households were impacted following a malfunction at the biggest power plant in Taiwan. Apple’s processor manufacturing partner, TSMC, was impacted by the blackout which will take time to resolve, Nikkei tells us.

The site of TSMC’s most cutting-edge iPhone chip production plans saw abnormal voltage changes to the power supply. The company says it is still checking if the power supply problems impacted operations. Which suggests production may be OK.

It’s arguable if Apple would be at all impacted by the problem, which effectively seems to mean a lost day’s chip production at worst. It seems probable the company has already secured chips for current product manufacture. It is also highly probable to have already shipped processors for the new iPhone SE 5G, iPad Air, and Macs it intends to introduce next week. At worst, some purchasers of those new products may experience a short additional delay.

All the same, as energy costs climb worldwide and the economic and supply chain consequences of the war in Ukraine begin to ripple across global markets, the event underscores the importance of stability and supply to business.

Apple and the Ukraine

Apple this week announced its own sanctions against Russia in protest at the invasion of Ukraine, suspending product sales in the country, ceasing exports to it, limiting access to some services and disabling traffic reporting in Maps.

“This moment calls for unity, it calls for courage, and it reminds us that we must never lose sight of the humanity we all share. In these difficult times, I take comfort in knowing that we are united in our commitment to each other, to our users, and to being a force for good in the world,” wrote Apple CEO, Tim Cook in an email to employees.

Please follow me on Twitter, or join me in the AppleHolic’s bar & grill and Apple Discussions groups on MeWe.