Although there has been news recently that due to seasonal factors, TSMC’s 5-nanometer capacity utilization rate will decline next year, but now there are more rumors that Apple has even placed 3-nanometer orders.
According to TSMC’s plan, 3-nanometer certification and trial production will be completed next year, and mass production will begin in 2022, but Apple has already taken the lead by the end of this year, and is quite optimistic about TSMC’s progress in advancing advanced manufacturing processes. Apple is rumored to be introducing the 3nm process for its latest M-series chips. Recently, the M1 chip released by Apple shocked the industry. In order to maintain the strength of subsequent products, it will closely follow the advanced semiconductor technology.
In addition to 3nm, TSMC’s 4nm process is also underway next year. Although 3nm is a key process, not all customers will want to use it immediately. Therefore, the improved 4nm based on the 5nm process also allows customers to have more s Choice. But despite this, the 3-nanometer target is expected to move towards a monthly production capacity of 50,000 pieces in the initial stage, and the total production capacity will be close to 5-nanometer.
Because the development of its own high-end chips has gradually become a trend, since Apple, such as Microsoft also intends to develop its own chips, the demand for advanced processes will also increase in the future. As far as the current wave of Apple product replacements is foreseeable, it is expected that there will be a demand for 500 million chips, and all of them will use advanced manufacturing processes, and TSMC will provide 5nm, 4nm and 3nm all the way for big manufacturers to choose.
against samsung
Of course, the threat from Samsung cannot be underestimated. The news that Nvidia’s GPUs will continue to place orders with Samsung shows that it is still competitive, and Samsung has always expressed confidence that it will surpass TSMC in 3nm. In particular, Samsung will be the first to adopt the GAA structure, which has also worried many public opinions, and its performance will surpass the TSMC process.
However, TSMC is still in the lead in the ecological promotion progress of 4 nanometers and 3 nanometers, and the news of Apple’s orders also shows the confidence of the industry in TSMC. In addition, TSMC’s 3nm technology will continue to use some of the verified IP, which is more cost-effective for customers. Everything starts from the needs of customers, which is TSMC’s strategy.
To put it simply, although Samsung adopts new technology, it also says that its mass production is more difficult, and it is difficult to improve the yield performance in the short term. Even if it is really better in extreme performance, its cost performance may in turn lose to Samsung. TSMC. TSMC’s steady layout and mastery of process and technology are still accumulating advantages, which will become a tall barrier that Samsung can’t overcome.
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