Before continuing that thought, please read the last few pages in the
7nm thread. Especially the bits about just where current node sizes are at.
Looking at any easily Googled list of Foundries on the planet producing 14/16nm brings up NONE in Japan so for start just where is the multi-billion FAB needed in Japan?
Only update to node size is that yes, both Apple iphone-8 and Samsung Galaxy-8 are both finally shipping with '10nm CPU's'. To most in the semiconductor industry this is Pure loss-leader Marketing largely driven by Apples damn-the-torpedos push to celebrate the iphone anniversary. Naturally Samsung had to follow suite. Oh well such is the world of mass-consumer electronics Marketing.
a. '10nm' is a stretch vs actual physical junction size (which how Intel and IBM measure).
b. Only a very limited set of function blocks in the chips - which are SOC's btw - are at the small nodes. Over 50% of the chip is closer to 14nm...
c. Most important - these are for the MOBILE market and as such are very low power. As in around 100mW running full-tilt. A miner chip even pushing as little as only 1-5W - forget it.
The lithography used for patterning is DPP and DPP+ (Dual-patterning process). Horrifically slow combined with equally bad usable chips yield = ONLY the mobile phone world is using it. Only they are willing to eat the cost per-chip in each phone sold. Not even Intel is looking sooner than Q2 2018 anymore. That is how it will remain until EUV gets a bit better in the coming year.