According to a Taiwanese media report, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Corporation (TSMC) has received multiple orders for its 3-nanometer (3 nm) chip manufacturing technology. TSMC is expected to ramp up its 3nm production in the current half of this year, and the technology was at the center of controversy earlier this month when it was reported that design changes to Intel’s products would delay the manufacturing process. TSMC has denied the report, saying its process technologies are progressing as planned, and now Taiwanese publication DigiTimes is reporting that the company has received orders from several companies to manufacture its advanced technology products.
Major tech companies are jumping to TSMC’s 3nm process, Taiwanese press says
report from Digitimes He cited sources at the integrated circuit design firm to share details of orders TSMC has received for the 3nm process. Chipmakers must rely on a strong demand inventory for their new operations, as high capital and setup costs are not recovered until large quantities of semiconductor chips are manufactured. The machines used in advanced chip production are expensive to run, and low orders often result in low utilization, costing the chipmaker more money to produce than it can make.
Samsung Foundry, the chip manufacturing arm of Samsung Electronics, caused some controversy when it announced earlier this year that it would mass produce 3nm processors. The decision, widely seen as an attempt to gain Samsung’s support for TSMC, was followed by questions about the company’s potential orders for its products. One of those orders was confirmed by a Chinese agency, but details of the others were unclear.
DigiTimes reports that TSMC has received 3-nanometer orders from several companies, including leader Cupertino, Calif. consumer technology giant Apple, Inc, and Santa Clara, Calif.-based chipmaker Intel. Intel Collaboration with TSMC 3nm has received a lot of media attention, which is the latest claim the company has on that front The 3 nm process has been cancelled For some of its products.
Reports also indicate that apart from Intel and Apple, Taiwan’s MediaTek, Nvidia, Broadcom, AMD and Qualcomm have also placed orders for 3nm products. If true, this would give TSMC a strong advantage over Samsung as the company would be able to quickly ramp up 3nm production and capture a huge market share.
DigiTimes adds that Qualcomm is believed to be working with Samsung on 3nm chips, as the company prefers to diversify its suppliers and also considers other business considerations when doing business with Samsung. Qualcomm is the world’s leading smartphone processor manufacturer and competes with Samsung in this field, and the Korean company’s Exynos processors also target the same market as Qualcomm products.
Samsung and TSMC 3nm technologies differ from each other because they use different transistor designs. TSMC chose to stick with traditional FinFET technology in its products, while Samsung made a leap forward with its advanced GaaFET technology, which theoretically enables higher performance due to higher electrical conductivity.
