TSMC to begin pilot program at its Arizona

[safar1980]

TSMC reportedly accelerating 1.4nm manufacturing process while Intel and Samsung rethink their roadmap
TSMC seems to have made a major breakthrough in its 1.4nm manufacturing process and could set up factories as early as next year. Mass production for these new chips is expected by the second half of 2028.
The semiconductor manufacturing race is advancing at a rapid pace and TSMC, being the biggest player, wants to extend its lead further. Despite that lack of widespread adoption of 2nm chips, it has been reported that TSMC is already fast tracking its 1.4nm manufacturing process. New factories focused on production of this new node could be set up as early as next year with mass production starting the following year.

[FP91G]

Nvidia set to supplant Apple as TSMC’s top customer, signaling chip industry’s ‘changing dynamic’
LInk
Nvidia will become TSMC’s largest customer this year, according to analyst estimates and Huang himself. Apple is believed to currently be TSMC’s largest customer.
The positional swap will mark a fundamental shift in the semiconductor industry, reflecting Nvidia’s growing importance amid the AI infrastructure buildout.
The shift also highlights TSMC’s role as the largest contract supply foundry in the world, providing chip manufacturing and related services to nearly every processor maker.

[OgNasty]

I’m very happy to call myself a TSMC shareholder. A truly great company. It is great to see them addressing their geographic liabilities as well. Their new plant in Arizona is even right next to an Amcor plant, to quickly package and ship products. Nvidia might get all the attention, but this is the company actually manufacturing the most advanced products in the world.

[safar1980]

It appears the chip tariff threat against TSMC has faded, as the Trump administration is considering exempting the Taiwan giant following significant US commitments.

TSMC Sees Exemptions Under an Upcoming Tariff Scheme, Allowing the Giant to Benefit Its Customers
Semiconductor tariffs have long been a concern for TSMC, especially since the company has faced demands to increase its commitments to American manufacturing or face tariffs of up to 100%. Given how important the Taiwan chip giant is to the global AI supply chain, a tariff wave would've disrupted operations, causing significant concern for hyperscalers and fabless customers. However, according to FT, TSMC is set to be part of an "exemption scheme", which means the company could not pick and choose customers to exempt from chip tariffs.

[safar1980]

Apple Could Unveil Its Sub-1nm Chips In A Few Years, As TSMC Said To Fire Up Trial Production In 2029
The first wave of 2nm chipsets is scheduled to arrive later this year, with Apple introducing its A20 and A20 Pro range for its iPhone 18 family, but there’s little time for taking breaks, especially in the silicon industry, because the question is, what comes after this manufacturing process? According to the latest report, the trillion-dollar entity’s exclusive semiconductor partner, TSMC, is planning to achieve a new milestone by introducing its sub-1nm technology in a few years, with trial production expected in 2029.

New lithography roadmap reveals that TSMC will initially set a target of 5,000 wafers for its sub-1nm process, taking advantage of various facilities to make this possible

[elda34b]

According to the latest report, the trillion-dollar entity’s exclusive semiconductor partner, TSMC, is planning to achieve a new milestone by introducing its sub-1nm technology in a few years, with trial production expected in 2029.

Isn't this nm number marketing jargon to begin with? I wonder if they'll introduce more or less the same physical design with another name then. Just like Intel back in their 14+++ era. If they're stuck with 1nm process or something, maybe they'll innovate to reduce the design cost or something else. I hope the design from AMD or Intel (or any customer in general) will also improve. For example improving the X3D design, adding more cache, etc. It will be interesting if they continue to fight on the same node for several years to see who has the better design.

[FP91G]

At one point, the 3 nm process technology was something of a fantasy, and I even read about the limits of process technologies in the silicon industry.
Intel uses 1.8 nm (18A) on mobile Core Ultra Series 3 processors and server solutions, such as the 288-core Xeon 6+.
AMD uses 2 nm (TSMC N2) on its sixth-generation (Venice) 256-core EPYC server processors.

[safar1980]

TSMC reveals details of its A16 process technology, with production expected to begin in 2026.
TSMC A16™ technology integrates leading nanosheet transistors with innovative Super Power Rail (SPR) solutions, bringing greatly improved logic density and performance.

SPR improves logic density and performance by dedicating front-side routing resources to signals. It also significantly reduces IR drop, improving power delivery efficiency. Most importantly, our novel backside contact scheme preserves gate density, layout footprint, and device width flexibility as traditional front-side power delivery to achieve an industry-first best density and best performance.

Compared to TSMC’s N2P process, A16 will provide an 8-10% speed improvement at the same Vdd (positive power supply voltage), a 15-20% power reduction at the same speed, and up to 1.10X chip density, making it best suited for high-performance computing (HPC) products with complex signal routes and dense power delivery networks.

[FP91G]

Chip giant TSMC pledges another $100bn to expand US production
link
Taiwanese chipmaker TSMC will invest another $100bn (£74bn) in Arizona as it expands its production in the US, a move the Commerce Department said will create tens of thousands of American jobs.

TSMC makes the most advanced chips designed by companies such as Nvidia and Apple, and the news is a boost for President Donald Trump's drive to bring more advanced manufacturing to the US.

It raises the company's total commitment to the US to $265bn, with chief executive CC Wei saying the increase will likely see four new plants built in Arizona.

The announcement came as the firm announced a 77% jump in second-quarter net profits.

Profit from April to June jumped to $22bn, from $12.4bn in the same three months a year earlier.

Memory chip makers have seen demand boom in recent years as their products power AI data centres and smart devices.

Strong demand for TSMC's chips has helped to make it Asia's most valuable company.

Its share price has jumped by more than 55% this year to give it a stock market valuation of around $2 trillion.