TSMC currently has only one customer for 3nm, its most advanced manufacturing technique: Apple. But soon the situation will change. The company will also produce for other customers in the 3nm process in 2024. Therefore, the company aims to greatly increase its 3nm production revenues.Many companies are lining up for 3nm
According to the information provided by China Times, many large companies, from Nvida GPUs to artificial intelligence chips of companies such as Microsoft, Google and Amazon, plan to produce in TSMC’s 3nm process. TSMC’s 3nm production capacity has now increased to 60-70 thousand wafers per month. It is expected to reach 100 thousand by the end of 2024.
While the company’s 3nm revenues are currently at 5%, they are expected to reach 10% in 2024. A17 Pro and M3 chip orders from Apple have brought the company 3.1 billion euros.
While Qualcomm and Mediatek are expected to turn to the lower-cost N3E process for their flagship processors Snapdragon 8 Gen 4 and Dimensity 9400 next year, a large increase in TSMC’s revenues is also expected. The N3B production process, currently used only by Apple, was not preferred by other companies due to high plate costs and low efficiency. It is reported that the current plate cost is 20 thousand dollars and the efficiency is 55%. Therefore, it is difficult for a company other than Apple to overcome this cost.
According to an earlier report, the tape release process alone for the recently released M3, M3 Pro, and M3 Max cost Apple $1 billion. Companies such as Qualcomm and MediaTek chose to wait because they did not want to bear this cost. Of course, this situation gave Apple an advantage for a year. However, next year more companies will have access to the latest technology chips, so there is no doubt that 2024 will be more exciting.
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