With the continuous progress of science and technology and the continuous development of chip manufacturing technology, major chip manufacturers around the world are investing a lot of money and energy to promote the upgrading of chip manufacturing processes. At present, the world's most advanced chip process is 3nm, TSMC, Samsung and other giants have achieved mass production of 3nm chips, and Apple's A17Pro has become the world's first 3nm chip masterpiece. However, it is not easy to achieve 3nm process manufacturing, which requires a lot of resources and expenses. In order to improve costs and make profits, various foundries are constantly innovating and intend to roll out multiple versions on the 3nm process to meet the needs of different customers. This article will ** TSMC's coil chip strategy and the challenges of future chip process upgrades.
As one of the world's largest chip foundries, TSMC is constantly innovating for different versions of coiling on the 3nm process in order to achieve the high investment required by the 3nm process. They intend to coil at least 5 times on the 3nm process to produce 6 3nm chip versions to respond to the needs of different customers. In addition to the basic N3 process, different versions of the 3nm process such as N3E, N3P, N3AE, N3X, and N3A have been launched, each with different performance improvements and functional characteristics. In this way, TSMC can tailor chips for customers in different fields to achieve diversified market layout and profit growth.
TSMC's N3E process, launched this year, is the first enhanced version of the N3 process. Compared to the N3 process, the N3E process offers a 5% performance improvement while maintaining the same transistor density. This means that without increasing the number of transistors, the performance of the chip is improved, so that it can better meet the needs of the user.
2. N3P process: performance is increased by 10%, transistor density is increased by 4%, and power consumption is reduced by 5-10%.
In 2024, TSMC will launch the N3P process, which is an upgrade on the basis of the N3 process. Compared to the N3 process, the N3P process has a 10% increase in performance, a 4% increase in transistor density, and a 5-10% reduction in power consumption. This means that the performance of the chip will be greatly improved and the power consumption will be reduced, which will bring users a more efficient and power-saving experience.
With the rapid development of smart cars, the demand for automotive chips is also increasing. To meet this demand, TSMC launched the N3AE process in 2024, which is a version customized specifically for automotive chips. It has the characteristics of high performance and high reliability, and is better able to meet the challenges and needs of the automotive field.
It is expected that in 2025, TSMC will launch the N3X process, which will be the highest-performing version of the N3 process. Compared to the N3 process, the N3X process will achieve a 15% performance increase and a 4% increase in transistor density while maintaining the same power consumption. This will provide stronger silicon support for high-performance computing and more demanding application scenarios.
In 2026, TSMC will launch the N3A process, which is a full-featured version of the N3AE process for more types of automotive chips. It will bring more diverse solutions to the automotive industry, with chip customization to meet different vehicle models and functional needs.
In order to achieve a high investment in the 3nm process, TSMC has to constantly coil different versions of 3nm chips. There are both technical challenges and market opportunities.
Achieving the high demands of the 3nm chip process is a technical challenge. The 3nm process places extremely high demands on materials science, process manufacturing, and equipment development. The fine-tuning and optimization of various parameters is crucial to the improvement of chip performance and power consumption, and requires continuous technological breakthroughs and innovations. This means that chipmakers need to invest more R&D resources and funds to meet the technical challenges.
Although the 3nm process is a huge investment, it also presents a huge opportunity for chipmakers. With the rapid development of emerging technologies such as the Internet of Things, artificial intelligence, and 5G, the demand for high-performance, low-power, and small-size chips is growing. The advent of the 3nm process provides a better technical guarantee to meet these needs. At the same time, multiple versions of 3nm chips can also better adapt to the needs of different application fields and further expand the market space.
Although TSMC continues to innovate in the 3nm process, it is facing greater challenges and tests as the process is upgraded.
Although the 3nm process can provide higher performance and lower power consumption, it also brings significant investment and cost pressures. Chipmakers need to invest huge R&D expenses and equipment investments to meet the requirements of the 3nm process. This makes it necessary for chipmakers to constantly innovate and roll up more versions of chips to invest and achieve profitability.
With the upgrading of the process, the technical bottleneck is becoming more and more obvious. The breakthrough from 2nm to 1nm will be more difficult and will require more investment in scientific research and technological breakthroughs. In addition, the continuation and upgrading of the manufacturing process also needs to face challenges in many fields such as physics and materials science, and requires continuous exploration and innovation.
As the chip market becomes increasingly competitive, major chip manufacturers are competing to launch a new generation of processes to compete for market share and customer orders. However, the investment in each generation of technology is very huge, the cycle is long, and the market needs to be planned in advance. At the same time, the diversification of market demand is also a test, and chip manufacturers need to adjust their product strategies according to market demand to achieve a balance between market and technology.
At present, chip manufacturers are constantly innovating and coiling different versions of 3nm chips for the high investment in the 3nm process. TSMC, as one of the world's largest chip foundries, plans to coil at least 5 times on the 3nm process to produce 6 3nm chip versions to meet the needs of different customers and maximize profits. However, in the face of the challenges of process upgrading, including technical difficulties, cost pressures and market competition, chipmakers need to continue to explore and innovate to balance market demand and technological breakthroughs to achieve sustainable development. In the future, in the context of the exploration and high investment of 1nm technology, chip manufacturers need precise market ** and strategic planning to cope with the increasingly complex market environment and technical challenges.