The CEO of Taiwan's leading chip design company, MediaTek, stated on Friday that the company has been conducting simulations to prepare for potential U.S. tariffs on the island, but believes they would be "manageable" for this year.
Tech companies in Taiwan, including TSMC, the world's largest contract chipmaker, may be affected if U.S. President Donald Trump proceeds with his threats to impose tariffs on imported chips. Trump's concerns about Taiwan's impact on the American semiconductor industry were raised during his campaign.
During a quarterly earnings conference call, MediaTek's CEO, Rick Tsai, expressed uncertainty regarding the potential impact of future U.S. tariffs on Taiwan, describing the situation as "very unpredictable."
Tsai noted that the company expects the impact to be "manageable" for this year. However, he emphasized the difficulty of making accurate predictions due to the complexity of the issue and the numerous variables involved.
On a positive note, despite concerns raised by the launch of DeepSeek AI by a Chinese startup, Tsai expressed optimism about the AI market, attributing it to the trend of AI becoming more accessible and widespread among average users.
MediaTek's shares have seen a 7.8% increase this year, outperforming the market's 1.9% gain, with the company's shares closing flat on Friday.