Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) yesterday expressed confidence that its 2-nanometer process technology would be the most advanced foundry technology in the world when it is introduced in 2025, shrugging off Samsung Electronics Co’s plans to overtake its technology leadership position.
“Today, the 3-nanometer technology we offer is the world’s most advanced technology. When we launch our 2-nanometer technology in 2025, there is no doubt in my mind that it will be the most advanced semiconductor technology in the world,” senior vice president of business development Kevin Zhang (張曉強) said in response to a reporter’s question about Samsung’s plans.
Two enhanced versions, dubbed N2P and N2X, would be launched in 2026, TSMC said during an annual technology symposium in Hsinchu.
Photo: Carlos Garcia Rawlins, Reuters
Samsung aims to surpass its bigger foundry rival TSMC to become the industry leader within five years, the Korea Economic Daily reported on Thursday last week.
The South Korean technology giant expects to get ahead of TSMC with its 2-nanometer processing node, Samsung’s head of semiconductor business Kyun Kye-hyun said during a lecture.
Samsung plans to mass produce 2-nanometer chips in 2025 as well. Its 2-nanometer technology would be based on the get-all-around structure, while TSMC adopts a nano sheet transistor structure, which it believes is a more mature technology, with less power consumption and greater performance.
In preparation for the mass production of its 2-nanometer chips, TSMC, the world’s biggest contract chipmaker, is constructing a new factory in Hsinchu and would break ground for another one in Taichung next year.
The 2-nanometer chips would be used in smartphones and high-performance-computing (HPC) devices, the chipmaker said.
Commenting on market concern about TSMC’s 3-nanometer process, Zhang said the technology’s yield would soon catch up with that of its 5-nanometer process.
“We have strong confidence in our 3-nanometer processor, which is stable,” Zhang said. “We are seeing 1.5 to two times the number of customers engaging in our 3-nanometer [technology] compared with 5-nanometer during the initial period.”
Its automaker customers are participating in a program to upgrade to a new version of 3-nanometer auto chips, called Auto Early technology, Zhang said.
The new technology would allow customers to start designing chips two to three years earlier than before and to shorten their time to market, he said.
TSMC last month said that it was unable to meet customers’ demand for 3-nanometer chips.
Most of its smartphone and HPC customers are migrating to the 3-nanometer technology, Zhang said.
TSMC chief executive officer C.C. Wei (魏哲家) yesterday in Hsinchu said that TSMC is a more reliable and trustworthy partner, as it does not compete with its customers.
“Our two competitors, one from South Korea and one based in California, develop their [own] products,” Wei said.
“TSMC does not develop [its own] products. We do not compete with you,” he told customers.
Samsung and Intel Corp are competing with TSMC to vie for a bigger market share and technology leadership.
Semiconductor shares in China surged yesterday after Reuters reported the US had ordered chipmaking giant Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) to halt shipments of advanced chips to Chinese customers, which investors believe could accelerate Beijing’s self-reliance efforts. TSMC yesterday started to suspend shipments of certain sophisticated chips to some Chinese clients after receiving a letter from the US Department of Commerce imposing export restrictions on those products, Reuters reported on Sunday, citing an unnamed source. The US imposed export restrictions on TSMC’s 7-nanometer or more advanced designs, Reuters reported. Investors figured that would encourage authorities to support China’s industry and bought shares
FLEXIBLE: Taiwan can develop its own ground station equipment, and has highly competitive manufacturers and suppliers with diversified production, the MOEA said The Ministry of Economic Affairs (MOEA) yesterday disputed reports that suppliers to US-based Space Exploration Technologies Corp (SpaceX) had been asked to move production out of Taiwan. Reuters had reported on Tuesday last week that Elon Musk-owned SpaceX had asked their manufacturers to produce outside of Taiwan given geopolitical risks and that at least one Taiwanese supplier had been pushed to relocate production to Vietnam. SpaceX’s requests place a renewed focus on the contentious relationship Musk has had with Taiwan, especially after he said last year that Taiwan is an “integral part” of China, sparking sharp criticism from Taiwanese authorities. The ministry said
CHANGING JAPAN: Nvidia-powered AI services over cellular networks ‘will result in an artificial intelligence grid that runs across Japan,’ Nvidia’s Jensen Huang said Softbank Group Corp would be the first to build a supercomputer with chips using Nvidia Corp’s new Blackwell design, a demonstration of the Japanese company’s ambitions to catch up on artificial intelligence (AI). The group’s telecom unit, Softbank Corp, plans to build Japan’s most powerful AI supercomputer to support local services, it said. That computer would be based on Nvidia’s DGX B200 product, which combines computer processors with so-called AI accelerator chips. A follow-up effort will feature Grace Blackwell, a more advanced version, the company said. The announcement indicates that Softbank Group, which until early 2019 owned 4.9 percent of Nvidia, has secured a
CARBON REDUCTION: ‘As a global leader in semiconductor manufacturing, we recognize our mission in environmental protection,’ TSMC executive Y.P. Chyn said Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), the world’s biggest contract chipmaker, yesterday launched its first zero-waste center in Taichung to repurpose major manufacturing waste, which translates into savings of NT$1.5 billion (US$46 million) in environmental costs a year. The environmental cost savings include a carbon reduction benefit of 40,000 tonnes, equivalent to the carbon offset of over 110 Daan Forest Parks, the chipmaker said. The Taichung Zero Waste Manufacturing Center is part of the chipmaker’s greater efforts to reach its net zero emissions goal in 2050, aligning with the UN’s 12th Sustainable Development Goal. The center could reduce TSMC’s outsourced waste processing
RSS