Apple originally planned to use TSMC's 2-nanometer chips in the iPhone 17 series launched this year, but according to the latest news, due to the high cost of the process, each silicon wafer was quoted as high as US$30,000, forcing Apple to postpone this plan. It is reported that Apple may postpone the mass production plan of 2nm chips to 2026, that is, for application on the iPhone 18 series. The iPhone 17 will continue to use TSMC’s 3nm chips to give TSMC time to upgrade its 2nm process.

As TSMC's largest customer, Apple's delay will not put TSMC in trouble, but it still warns of certain risks. Currently, the yield rate of TSMC's 2-nanometer process is only 60%, which greatly increases the cost of each wafer and also gives industry competitors hope of catching up.

Among them, South Korea once again claimed that Nvidia and Qualcomm may also shift orders for cutting-edge chips to Samsung Electronics' 2-nanometer process. Part of the consideration is TSMC's high costs and limited production capacity.

Samsung Electronics is expected to start trial production of 2-nanometer chips in the first quarter of this year. In addition, another mainstream supplier, Japan's Rapidus, is building a factory in Hokkaido and aims to mass produce 2-nanometer wafers in 2027.Diversification

TSMC will trial production of 2nm chips in April this year. According to industry estimates, TSMC's 2-nanometer production capacity will increase from 10,000 wafers per month during trial production to 80,000 wafers by 2026.

Before TSMC stabilizes output, the 2-nanometer chip market is expected to see fierce competition, which may rewrite the future development pattern of the high-end chip industry. Among them, the one most promising to impact TSMC’s position is Samsung.

According to reports, Samsung previously snatched the Japanese AI startup Preferred Networks from TSMC as a customer and is currently cooperating with large Silicon Valley technology companies such as Nvidia and Qualcomm to test the 2-nanometer process.

This is also one of the efforts of large technology companies to make their supply chains more diversified. Many companies do not want to see TSMC become the dominant player and use its monopoly position to control prices.

However, the current 2-nanometer chip yield rates of Samsung and Rapidus are not as good as those of TSMC, and Samsung's mediocre performance in high-end processes in the past has also caused concerns for many companies. Therefore, the industry estimates that future development is more likely to be the coexistence of "dual sources", that is, TSMC and Samsung equally share a company's orders and artificially create competition.

And if Samsung cannot find a way out before TSMC completes its market monopoly, high-end chips will once again return to TSMC’s dominance. Samsung's chip foundry business will also be in dire straits, and it is currently facing billions of dollars in losses.