As the silicon industry finally moves towards mainstream 3nm production, TSMC is kicking off 3nm mass production at their Taiwan Fabs. The company will hold an event next week in Taiwan to officially start mass production for their most refined silicon yet, built on the 3nm fabrication process.
TSMC Is Starting 3nm Chip Mass Production In Its Fabs
When it comes to producing the latest and greatest in silicon chips, TSMC has taken a significant lead over the likes of Samsung and Intel. Its chips, built on the 4nm Process, are already taking the industry by storm as Apple’s new M2 & A16 Bionic alongside Qualcomm’s latest Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 are already miles ahead of the competition. As the mass production of 3nm chips ramps up, ARM-based silicon will only get better at performance and energy efficiency.
It’s not clear if the company is taking its 1st gen 3nm chips into mass production as an updated N3E process was already announced and that’s what Apple is going to use for its M3 and A17 Bionic chips, both of which are expected to come out in 2023. Based on the fact that Apple (and now even Qualcomm) sources its chips from TSMC, it’s possible that the N3E gets priority.
There have been reports of TSMC being behind schedule on their 3nm chip manufacturing, and next week’s event seems like a good way to shut those rumors down. However, the important thing here is the fact that the chip shortage situation might just be getting slightly better. Now, with TSMC’s new Arizona Fabs increasing production capacity, things finally seem to get on track for both the company and its clients.
TSMC is already increasing its prices though, with the 8-inch wafers going up by 6% and the 12-inch wafers going up by 3%-5%. That’s surely going to affect the upcoming 3nm chips and for that reason, the upcoming products using this tech may also be significantly pricier compared to what we’ve seen in 2021 and 2022. However, how much of a difference both the technology and the price increase make, is something, we’ll have to wait until 2023 to figure out.
Source: wccftech
