Wedbush interprets rumors of TSMC (TSM.US) CoWoS price increases: supply chain bottlenecks return, Intel (INTC.US) may face less competitive pressure.

Zhitong Finance APP has learned that, according to reports, TSMC (TSM.US) plans to raise prices for its CoWoS packaging services. Wedbush believes this news indicates that the technology is once again becoming a "bottleneck" in the supply chain.

Wedbush analyst Matt Bryson wrote in a report to clients: “Although we have not yet independently verified reports of the price increase, if true, we believe this suggests that CoWoS may once again become a bottleneck in the supply chain. (For a period previously, packaging capacity appeared to be under less strain compared to other component supply areas.)”

According to the report, as the world’s largest semiconductor foundry, TSMC may raise wafer substrate chip prices by 10% to 20%. TSMC manufactures chips for companies such as Apple (AAPL.US), Nvidia (NVDA.US), and AMD (AMD.US).

TSMC did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Bryson further analyzed that if TSMC does indeed raise CoWoS prices, it could also mean that the company "is feeling less pressure from Intel’s (INTC.US) EMIB-T technology."

Bryson added: “Overall, given TSMC’s apparent pricing power and strong end-customer demand, we see this news as another positive signal for TSMC. For Intel, the impact may be more complex, depending on the specific reasons why TSMC decided to increase CoWoS prices.”