"TSMC's profits hit a new high, but the semiconductor industry is facing a strong earthquake" was published on the website of Japan economic news on the 18th. The summary of the report is as follows: Taiwan integrated circuit manufacturing Co., Ltd. (TSMC) announced on the 14th that its operating revenue and net profit from July to September 2021 reached an all-time high on a quarterly basis. Due to the tight supply and demand of semiconductors, the continuous price increase of about 12% since 2020 has penetrated into customers and become one of the factors driving up the profits from July to September 2021. Since the beginning of 2021, the shortage of semiconductors has become increasingly prominent, and there is still no sign of mitigation. With the automobile industry as the center, there is a serious shortage of semiconductors, and the scope of automobile production reduction is expanding all over the world. In this context, the semiconductor industry has ushered in a strong earthquake. The US Department of commerce is anxious about the long-term shortage of semiconductors. On September 23, the Department issued a rare notice to major manufacturers such as TSMC and Samsung Electronics of South Korea, requiring to submit internal confidential information such as customer information, inventory, delivery date, order and supply within 45 days, which caused an uproar in the industry. The U.S. authorities seem to believe that the shortage of semiconductors cannot be alleviated because either enterprises hoard products for some purpose or the semiconductor supply process is opaque. However, faced with the attitude of the US government, TSMC and others are taking a tougher stance against it. Enterprises are worried that their internal information may flow to Intel, a competitor close to the U.S. authorities. Around the goal of developing the world's most cutting-edge semiconductors, TSMC, Samsung and Intel are competing fiercely. In this case, enterprises are particularly sensitive to information management. Liu Deyin, chairman of TSMC, said that it does not seem easy to find out the reasons for the current semiconductor shortage. The inflationary pressure rooted in the shortage of semiconductors may not be eliminated in a short time. (outlook new era)