The Hot Take: Definitely looks like Apple is getting priority on the latest from TSMC.
The first wave of 2nm chipsets is scheduled to arrive later this year, with Apple introducing its A20 and A20 Pro range for its iPhone 18 family, but thereâs little time for taking breaks, especially in the silicon industry, because the question is, what comes after this manufacturing process? According to the latest report, the trillion-dollar entityâs exclusive semiconductor partner, TSMC, is planning to achieve a new milestone by introducing its sub-1nm technology in a few years, with trial production expected in 2029. New lithography roadmap reveals that TSMC will initially set a target of 5,000 wafers for its sub-1nm process, taking [âŚ]Read full article at https://wccftech.com/first-apple-sub-1nm-chip-arriving-in-few-years-tsmc-2029-trial-production-target/
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The Hot Take: Nice, competition domestically is the best thing to see going on. I'm cheering on intel but Samsung and TSMC domestically too.
Samsung has made a massive investment in a cutting-edge chipmaking plant in Taylor, Texas. A $16.5 billion order from Tesla has already been secured for its next-generation self-driving chips.
A new report claims that Samsung's Taylor plant is now close to launch, with Tesla's chips likely to be produced from the second half of this year.
This is one of Samsung's biggest investments in the US
A report out of South Korea mentions that Samsung will host a major equipment move-in ceremony at the Taylor plant on April 24th. Key Samsung Electronics executives are said to attend this event, including Han Jin-man, the president of the company's foundry division.
This has been a long time coming. Samsung initially broke ground on the project back in November 2022. The Taylor fab was projected to begin operations in October 2024. However, given the lack of visibility on major orders, Samsung had delayed production activities.
It then received a shot in the arm from Tesla last year when the automaker confirmed it had signed a $16.5 billion deal with Samsung for its AI5 and AI6 chips to be built at the Taylor fab. Samsung views its Taylor fab as key to catching up with TSMC, its biggest rival in the contract chipmaking space, which already enjoys a dominant lead over the Korean aspirant.
Samsung's focus on making 2nm production capacity available at its US plant is meant to offer major customers like Microsoft and Meta a viable alternative to TSMC's US plant which operates on the 4nm process technology.
Major chip designers will closely watch how Samsung is able to deliver on these 2nm Tesla chips. If yields are stable at mass production volumes, it could unlock a surge in orders for Samsung as TSMC simply doesn't have the capacity to absorb all of the 2nm orders.
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The Hot Take: Interesting move for the two of them.
As Intel joins Elon Musk's TeraFab project, Lip-Bu Tan expects Elon Musk to reimagine the semiconductor industry.
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The Hot Take: Intel & Samsung need to catch up to bring prices down.
As the artificial intelligence (AI) era advances, approximately 133 companies are actively developing or selling AI chips, according to a SEMIEcosystem report citing Jon Peddie Research. Major suppliers include Nvidia, AMD, Broadcom, and Google, alongside numerous startups focusing on edge AI solutions.
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The Hot Take: Electronics will soon be dirt cheap again in the USA soon enough.
New rumor indicates that TSMC is looking forward to expand its presence in the U.S. to 12 fabs and four packaging facilities.
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The Hot Take: Again this is a great sign that Intel is definitely clawing back.
In a mutually beneficial deal, Intel repurchases 49% of Fab 34 from Apollo for $14.2 billion, reducing pressure on its margins, but paying a hefty $3 billion premium to the financial company.
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The Hot Take: The Fab competition is heating up states side from the look of it.
A new report claims TSMC wants an Arizona âGigaFabâ cluster that can rival what it produces in Taiwan.
DigiTimes says TSMCâs US plans have already âexceeded expectationsâ and the outfit is now eyeing a total of 12 fabs. The idea is to mirror the kind of fab network it runs in Hsinchu, Taiwan, only with more cactus and less typhoon risk.
The report reckons TSMCâs and Taiwanâs combined US investment could hit half a trillion dollars, with the spending framed as groundwork for something bigger than a couple of token plants. That is a lot of concrete for a country that still argues about potholes.
DigiTimes claims TSMC will add two more wafer fabs and two more advanced packaging fabs in Arizona, taking the state to 12 projects in total. The pitch is that this is not just TSMC shipping in kit and engineers, but a wider supply chain shift, so more production stays on US soil.
Of course, building chips in the US is not cheap. The report flags higher costs for facilities, labour and depreciation per wafer, but says the early phases are ploughing on regardless.
For some reason, the planners seem to be only interested in building data centres in the hottest places in the US, making issues like water and power really tricky.
âSupply chain sources say that the plan for these 12 factories is TSMCâs largest overseas investment in history. It has transformed from an initial risk diversification base into an important extension base for advanced processes and packaging, becoming a key to the reconstruction of semiconductor manufacturing in the United States.â
DigiTimes ties the fresh confidence to a recent US-Taiwan tariff agreement, with the US administration supposedly lining up incentives via economic and labour support. If that is the deal, Arizona is about to become an expensive negotiating chip.
Experts quoted in the report argue the scale was inevitable because 70 per cent of TSMCâs customers are US fabless firms. They want supply security without the political choke points that come with keeping everything in Taiwan.
That demand keeps dragging TSMCâs capex higher quarter after quarter, because it is stuck feeding both the front-end wafer crunch and the back-end packaging crunch. Every AI compute outfit wants a slot, and TSMC is the one holding the clipboard.
Someone even floated that TSMC could surpass the Fruity Cargo Cult Apple in market value by 2030, which is the sort of prediction that always sounds clever until the next cycle bites.
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The Hot Take: So USA looks to be having 3 foundries that will be able to produce 2nm chips. This is great news.
Samsung Electronics has reportedly moved into the equipment installation and testing phase at its foundry in Taylor, Texas, transitioning from construction to operational setup for 2nm production. More than 3,000 engineers from Samsung and global equipment suppliers have begun gathering at the site, according to ET News, signaling the start of large-scale ramp-up activities.
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The Hot Take: This is GREAT indication that Intel is clawing its way back.
Intel's US$14.2 billion buyback of its Ireland fab stake signals a shift beyond austerity, reflecting improved finances, renewed confidence in AI-driven CPU demand, and a strategic move to regain full control of key manufacturing capacity amid persistent global semiconductor supply constraints.
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The Hot Take: Competition is good for all of us, I'm glad Samsung has caught up finally. Intel has to prove its self but 3 is way better than 1.
The success garnered by TSMC has turned into a double-edged sword for both the worldâs biggest foundry and its customers, as the manufacturerâs 3nm supply has become so constrained that only long-term and loyal customers like Apple are given priority. During this demand and supply disparity, Samsung emerges as the savior for those who are unable to secure orders from their âgo-toâ manufacturer, with the Korean giantâs second-generation 2nm GAA process, also known as SF2P, serving as the ideal alternative. With the 2nm GAA SF2Pâs basic design completed, Samsung is also reportedly planning a âhybridâ production system that enables multiple order [âŚ]Read full article at https://wccftech.com/samsung-2nm-process-an-alternative-for-customers-during-tsmc-supply-choke/
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