Taipei, Jan 13 (IANS): Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC) said on Thursday that it will invest up to $44 billion this year to expand chip manufacturing capacity, as the world faces acute chip shortage amid supply chain constraints.

In its latest earnings release, the Taiwanese firm said it expects capital spending to be between $40 and $44 billion in 2022, up from a previous record of $30 billion in 2021.

According to a report in Nikkei Asia, the announcement puts "the chipmaker on track to meet its plan of investing $100 billion over the three years till 2023".

"Entering 2022, we expect the supply chain to maintain a higher level of inventory compared to the historical standard or level, given the industry's continued need to ensure supply security," said TSMC CEO C.C. Wei.

He also increased the forecast for the company's compound annual growth rate for "the next several years" to between 15 per cent and 20 per cent in US dollar terms.

For the October-December period, TSMC's net profit reached a record NT$166.23 billion, up 16.4 per cent from a year ago.

The revenue jumped 21.2 per cent to a record NT$438.19 billion.

In the fourth quarter, shipments of 5-nanometer accounted for 23 per cent of total wafer revenue and 7-nanometer accounted for 27 per cent.

"Our fourth quarter business was supported by strong demand for our industry-leading 5-nanometer technology," said Wendell Huang, VP and Chief Financial Officer of TSMC.

Based on the Company's current business outlook, management expects revenue for the first quarter of 2022 to be between $16.6 billion and $17.2 billion.