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.

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.