According to an industry report from TechNews (Taiwan), TSMC’s next flagship process, namely the 3nm node has already been fully booked till 2024. All major fabless chipmakers including Apple, AMD, Qualcomm, Xilinx, and even Intel have booked the entire 3nm capacity at the Taiwanese foundry thru 2024.
TSMC is reportedly preparing four waves of its 3nm node, with the first one largely going to Apple, and the remaining three being distributed between AMD, NVIDIA, Xilinx, and Qualcomm. Intel is also looking to outsource some of its core CPU lineups, but it hasn’t been confirmed whether the Santa Clara-based chipmaker will use the 3nm node or a more mature one.
TSMC is investing a mammoth NT$2 trillion in its 3nm process technology, with a goal to mass produce in 2022. With the first wave, the monthly capacity will be limited to 55K units and these will mostly be sold to Apple. By 2023, the monthly capacity will grow to 105K units and this is when most chipmakers will get a taste of TSMC’s most advanced process node.
Samsung is also planning to mass-produce its 3nm process in 2022, right alongside TSMC, but it remains to be seen if it can keep yields high enough. Unlike the latter, the former is using GAA technology for its 3nm process which gives it an edge. All will depend on how well the production goes, however. TSMC will use GAA with its 2nm process technology.
Source: TechNews
