On August 28, Apple is expected to use the A20 chip on its iPhone 18 series of mobile phones. The chip is expected to use TSMC’s most advanced 2-nanometer process technology. Now, "Digital Times" has exposed TSMC's 2nm mass production roadmap and said that various chip companies are competing for initial production capacity.
TSMC
"Digital Times" quoted supply chain sources as saying that TSMC is expected to launch mass production of the 2-nanometer process in the fourth quarter, with the foundry quotation for each wafer reaching a record high of US$30,000. Despite this, demand for 2-nanometer chips remains unprecedentedly strong, with Apple alone locking in "nearly half" of its production capacity.
Although some people in the market once believed that Samsung Electronics and Japan's Rapidus Company were capable of grabbing orders from TSMC, TSMC has not been affected and is still advancing its process roadmap as planned. According to TSMC’s plan, the Hsinchu Baoshan Wafer Factory 20 and Kaohsiung Factory 22, which will start construction in 2022, will become key bases for the 2-nanometer process and will begin mass production in 2025. In addition, TSMC's 4nm and 3nm production capacity until the end of 2026 has been fully booked. Even as it faces trade challenges such as tariffs, currency fluctuations and rising costs, TSMC's earnings are still on track to exceed previous expectations.
Although Apple is expected to capture nearly half of TSMC's 2nm chip production capacity, Qualcomm is closely behind in second place. Companies such as AMD, MediaTek, Broadcom and even Intel will also share TSMC's production capacity. By 2027, in addition to Nvidia, customers who have entered mass production and have 2nm chips manufactured by TSMC will include Amazon's Annapurna, Google, Marvell, Bitmain and more than ten other major industry companies.
"Electronic Times" pointed out that even if more companies adopt the 2nm process by 2027, Apple will still be TSMC's main customer, and its capacity digestion scale in the first two years will exceed the level of TSMC's 3nm and 5nm processes in the same period.