Mass production of 3nm etched chips has officially started at TSMC. The manufacturer has announcement in a statement that a launch ceremony was held Thursday at its Fab18 building. These new chips will be manufactured at its Tainan campus in southern Taiwan.
If some manufacturers reduce their production in the face of a surplus of stock, the president of TSMC expressed his confidence in the future: the demand for models engraved in 3 nm would be “very strong”. The chips should make it possible to offer less battery-hungry devices since they will be more powerful, but will require around 35% less energy. Despite the strong tensions between Taiwan and China, Mark Liu has made it known that he does not plan to leave the island.
Mass production of 3-nanometer chips is the result of decades-long collaboration with the local supply chain […] The semiconductor industry will grow rapidly over the next decade, and Taiwan will certainly play an even more vital role in the global economy.
One might think that the expansion projects and the factory openings around the world betray a desire to abandon ship in the face of Chinese pressure, but this is not the case. The director promised to build future generations of 2nm chips in the Taiwanese cities of Hsinchu and Taichung. The Arizona factory (which should deliver its first batches in 2024) will use a 4 nm etching process: the best chips will therefore remain made in Taïwan.
The Taiwanese government has a vested interest in TSMC keeping its most important sites on the island. China claims Taiwan as part of its territory and regularly threatens to invade. The presence of unique factories in the world on Taiwanese soil acts as a shield: an attack on the island would paralyze the semiconductor factories and would therefore be harmful to the economies of the whole world.
TSMC is not the first to have launched the production of chips engraved in 3 nm: Samsung has grilled the priority in June. However, it was a limited production not intended for smartphones. TSMC’s 3nm chips are expected to be incorporated into revised versions of the Mac mini and Mac Studio.
