Kunpeng Project
TSMC's 3nm process is selling well, and Apple has become the biggest winner
As the world's largest foundry company, TSMC's cutting-edge process has attracted much attention from the industry. WCCFTECH recently reported that TSMC plans to increase its 3 nm process capacity to 100,000 wafers per month by 2024 and focus on improving yield. In addition to Apple, TSMC has received a large number of orders from Qualcomm, MediaTek, Nvidia and Intel. It is not yet clear which company places the most orders, but it is more likely to be Apple.
TSMC's 3nm process is another important progress after 5nm, which has greatly improved in terms of efficiency and energy consumption, and has approached 17 times. TSMC's 3nm series products are divided into three stages: basic process N3, cost optimization process N3E, performance improvement N3P process, and voltage resistance N3X process. The power consumption of the N3E can be reduced by 32% at the same operating frequency, while the power consumption can be increased by 18% for the same operating frequency. Compared with N3E, the power consumption of N3P is reduced by 5-10% at the same power density and 5-10% at the same operating frequency.
In December 2022, TSMC's 3nm process was officially put into use, providing Apple with A17, M5 and other products. The chip will be applied to the new generation of iPhone, iPad and Mac, making it run faster and longer. According to sources, TSMC is the largest user in terms of 3-nanometer chips, and the company's 3-nanometer chip production is about 70%. This move also shows that it believes in TSMC and relies on the high level and high standards of its own production.
Compared with TSMC's 3nm process, Samsung is facing a "quality problem" in the 3nm process. According to a report by Han **, Samsung's 3nm process has serious problems, and all the chips in mass production are defective, and the yield rate is 0. The move is a major blow to Samsung's plans for a 3nm process and could have an impact on the chips of its next-generation Galaxy Watch 7. Samsung uses a new GAA process that is completely different from TSMC's FinFET process on the 3nm process. Samsung has announced that their 3nm-GAA process is capable of reducing power consumption by 50% while improving performance by 30% and reducing the size of the wafer by 35%. However, the new technology also creates new problems, and Samsung is currently facing many problems in the process and lithography, and the quality of the 3 nm process cannot be guaranteed.
The competition between Samsung and TSMC on 3nm chips also reflects the differences between the two companies in terms of process and marketing strategies. TSMC has always been known for its solid process, and the 3nm process adopts the FinFET process with mature process, which can not only ensure the yield and production capacity of the product, but also meet user requirements. Samsung has also tried to surpass TSMC with the new GAA process, but they have ignored the difficulties and dangers, making it difficult for them to produce 3nm chips. In the field of chip manufacturing, TSMC has achieved a huge leading position with 3nm technology, and Samsung has to seize the time to overcome the 3nm process if it wants to compete with TSMC.