TSMC currently has an advantageous position in the advanced chip manufacturing market. Its 2-nanometer process has yields (percentage of viable chips per wafer manufactured) around 60%, while Samsung, its main competitor, is having difficulty raising 20-30%.
This has caused the main semiconductor companies to commission TSMC to manufacture their chips. However, as usually happens when a company achieves a dominant position, prices rise, and TSMC’s 2 nanometers will have a significantly higher price than previous processes. This price increase could cause TSMC to lose two of its most important customers, as NVIDIA and Qualcomm are considering returning to Samsung.
Besides, Apple I would not agree with these prices either and would not consider it viable to manufacture its next Apple Silicon A19 and Apple Silicon M5 chips in 2 nanometers. According to the latest information from the Trendforce analyst firmthose from Cupertino would launch these two SoCs in TSMC’s 3 nanometer process, delaying the adoption of 2 nanometers until 2026 in successive processor models.
2nm prices will hopefully have been contained by then due to node maturity and increased production capacity from TSMC, and there should also be greater supply if Samsung can overcome its current manufacturing issues.
Another aspect to take into account is that TSMC is not allowed to manufacture at 2 nanometers outside of Taiwan, so US factories will have to maintain lower processes until a few years pass.
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Antonio Delgado
Computer Engineer by training, editor and hardware analyst at Geeknetic since 2011. I love to tear apart everything that passes through my hands, especially the latest hardware that we receive here for reviews. In my free time I tinker with 3D printers, drones and other gadgets. For anything, here you have me.
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