It is reported that Google Tensor G5 chip switched to TSMC 3nm and introduced InFO packaging

TSMC's fan-out (InFO) packaging process will break Apple's dominance. The supply chain revealed that Google's self-developed mobile phone chip Tensor will switch to TSMC's 3nm process next year and will also begin to introduce InFO packaging, which will significantly reduce chip thickness, improve energy efficiency, and help create high-end artificial intelligence (AI) mobile phones.

TSMC developed the integrated fan-out (InFO) package based on FOWLP (fan-out wafer-level packaging), which brought InFO to attention and was used in the A10 processor of the iPhone 7 in 2016.

TSMC pointed out that InFO_PoP has developed to the ninth generation. Last year, it successfully certified 3nm chips to achieve higher efficiency and lower power consumption mobile device products; InFO_PoP technology with back line rewiring layer (RDL) will be put into mass production this year.

The supply chain revealed that the TensorG5 chip installed in the Google Pixel 10 series next year will use TSMC’s 3nm process and will also be packaged in InFO.The TensorG4 chip to be released this year will use Samsung FOPLP (fan-out panel level packaging), and there is speculationAlthough panel level (PLP) has advantages over wafer level (WLP), FOWLP is still superior when evaluating yield and cost at this stage.

TSMC has also begun to develop FOPLP technology. Although it has not yet matured within three years, major customers including Nvidia have joined hands with foundries to develop new materials. A major customer of TSMC has provided specification requirements, that is, using glass materials.

With new materials, more transistors can be placed on a single chip. For example, Intel predicts that the use of glass substrates in 2030 will enable a single chip to contain 1 trillion transistors, which is 50 times that of Apple's A17Pro chip. Glass substrates will become the next major event in chip development.

Substrate manufacturers also revealed that glass substrates are part of the mid- to long-term technology plan and can help customers solve the development path of large-size, high-density interconnection and other substrate technologies.It is still in the early stages of technology research and development, and the impact on ABF substrates is expected to be reflected in the second half of 2027 or later.