Let’s just make sure everyone has read the title and caught the word “RUMOR” in the front, because that’s exactly what this story is — rumor. According to SemiAccurate, TSMC is having trouble manufacturing 28nm chips, in fact they have gone as far as halting production in mid-February. It’s said (if this rumor is in fact, fact) production will not resume until at least the end of March.
So what does this have to do with the Qualcomm Snapdragon S4 chip you ask? Well, Qualcomm may have designed the S4, which uses the 28nm manufacturing process TSMC actually manufacturers. Without the chips, production of the devices that are using them, including the HTC One X (for AT&T) and HTC One S (for T-Mobile) may face a delay. The international version of the HTC One X will not be affected by any manufacturing issues as it uses a different processor in the form of the Tegra 3, manufactured by Nvidia.
Still, let’s go right back to the title and emphasize that this is pure rumor now, so any troubles TSMC could be facing may not actually exist at all. Hopefully, the HTC One S will not face any delays in manufacturing and will stay on schedule for a “coming this Spring” launch time-frame.