14 DAY TRIAL // Apple supplier Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co., or TSMC, has been hit by malware and all of its factories were shut down on Friday, according to a report.
TSMC makes chips for Apple’s iPhones, and the malware infection affects the company approximately one month ahead of the debut of the new-generation smartphones. TSMC was in the process of ramping up production of chips for the 2018 iPhone, according to Bloomberg, and at this point it’s not yet clear if the disruption can lead to a delay of the devices or not.
However, TSMC says that it managed to restore some of its fabrication machines on Saturday, while the rest of the equipment was projected to return to normal operations by late Sunday. More information is expected this week as TSMC conducts an internal investigation to determine exactly how the malware reached its systems.
“Certain factories returned to normal in a short period of time, and we expect the others will return to normal in one day,” the company was cited as saying by the linked source.
Investigation under way
The company, however, says the disruption isn’t the result of a hack, though no other specifics were provided on the nature of the infection and any other potential damage that it may have caused.
“TSMC has been attacked by viruses before, but this is the first time a virus attack has affected our production lines,” Chief Financial Officer Lora Ho explained.
Apple will launch three different iPhone models this year, all of them to be presented at a press conference in September. It’s believed that at least one of the three devices could hit the shelves later than the others, as Apple has sketched an aggressive marketing strategy that would give its more expensive models exclusive time on the market.
The new lineup will also include a more affordable configuration, and Apple believes this would account for at least half of the sales of the 2018 iPhones.