The world’s leading custom chip manufacturer Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. (TSMC) sharply downgraded its revenue forecast for the current quarter due to a serious incident at one of its plants.

As reported in a TSMC press release, the company now expects to receive revenue of $7-7,1 billion in January-March instead of the previous forecast of $7,3-7,4 billion. In January, at one of TSMC factories due to contamination with low-quality chemical components damaged the semiconductor wafers from which microchips are made. The company had to suspend production and dispose of the damaged wafers.

At the same time, the company plans to compensate for the reduction in production this quarter by increasing production of microchips in the second quarter. For April-June, the firm increased its revenue forecast by $550 million.

Taiwan Semiconductor has been called the industry’s barometer because its chips are used in virtually every segment, from medical equipment to mobile phones and automobiles.

TSMC shares remained virtually unchanged at the end of trading on Friday. Its capitalization over the past 12 months decreased by 4%, to 5,89 trillion new Taiwan dollars ($191 billion).