China announced on Monday (June 3) that it would restrict exports of two rare metals——both crucial materials in the computer chip manufacturing process. The nation's Ministry of Commerce stated that their new measures were necessary to "safeguard national security and interests". The Chinese government is contending with several sanctions from Western countries—most notably their access to advanced semiconductor manufacturing equipment is now heavily controlled. Reuters has contacted a number of foundries about the potential impact of rare material shipment limitations. Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC) has shrugged it off as a minor inconvenience, their spokesperson stated: "After evaluation, we do not expect the export restrictions on raw materials gallium and germanium will have any direct impact on TSMC's production. We will continue to monitor the situation closely."

WIN Semiconductors Corp—a Taiwanese firm that specializes in the provision of gallium arsenide wafers—informed the news agency about its low-level reliance on Chinese mineral sources. They are able to sidestep and procure gallium and germanium from suppliers located in Germany, Japan, and North America. The Japanese Semiconductor Equipment Association stated that it was too early to tell whether China's export restrictions will result in material shortages. Supply chains could be disrupted to some degree due to China controlling over 90% of the world's gallium and germanium production, but DigiTimes Asia proposes that new sanctions will not prohibit production and export activities. According to experts in the field supply lines will continue to operate, with buyers required to jump through some extra hoops in order to gain approval for certain market segments. The purification of gallium and germanium is mostly controlled by American and Japanese entities—the processed form of these metals is used in semiconductor production—DigiTimes reckons that these firms will probably feel the initial impact of new trade restrictions.

In keeping with Framework's philosophy, the Framework Laptop 16 has socketed memory and storage, making it easy for you to choose what you need on day one and upgrade to more any time later. Our pre-built configurations have set combinations of memory and storage, while on DIY Edition, you can choose any of the modules we offer in the Marketplace or bring your own if you prefer. We've taken both memory and storage to the next level on Framework Laptop 16. For memory, we've created new semi-custom Framework-branded DDR5-5600 modules. For storage, we have two M.2 slots, as well as the ability to add two more in the Expansion Bay for colossal storage capacity.

One core challenge we aimed to solve for memory on the Framework Laptop 16 was being able to offer the same modules for pre-built systems, DIY Edition, and the Framework Marketplace. Historically, we needed to source separate "OEM" modules from Samsung, SK Hynix, and Micron for use in our factory, and "Retail" modules from Crucial to offer in DIY Edition and the Marketplace. Instead, we worked with memory maker ADATA to create custom-label modules that we can use across all areas. Currently, we're leveraging SK Hynix DDR5-5600 memory chips for these modules, but may use other chips that meet the performance bar in the future as well.

According to Taiwanese media, TSMC will start production of its first 1.4 nm fab in 2026, with chip production in the fab said to start sometime in 2027 or 2028. The new fab will be located in Longtan Science Park outside of Hsinchu in Taiwan, where many of TSMC's current fabs are located. TSMC is currently constructing a 2 nm and below node R&D facility at a nearby plot of land to where the new fab is expected to be built. This facility is expected to be finished in 2025 and TSMC has been allocated a total area of just over 158 hectares of land for future expansion in the area.

In related news, TSMC is expected to be charging US$25,000 per 2 nm GAA wafer, which is an increase of about a fifth compared to its 3 nm wafers which are going for around US$20,000. This is largely due to the nodes being fully booked and TSMC being able to charge a premium for its cutting edge nodes. TSMC is also expanding in CoWoS packaging facilities due to increased demand from both AMD and NVIDIA for AI related products. Currently TSMC is said to be able to output 12,000 CoWoS wafers per month and this is twice as much as last year, yet TSMC is unable to meet demand from its customers.

The newly established Department for Science, Innovation and Technology (DSIT) in the UK has recently released the UK's National Semiconductor Strategy. Dr. Shih-Chieh Chang, General Director of Electronic and Optoelectronic System Research Laboratories at the Industrial Technology Research Institute (ITRI) of Taiwan had an initial exchange with DSIT. During the exchange, Dr. Chang suggested that Taiwan can become a trustable partner for the UK and that the partnership can leverage collective strengths to create mutually beneficial developments. According to the Strategy, the British government plans to invest 1 billion pounds over the next decade to support the semiconductor industry. This funding will improve access to infrastructure, power more research and development and facilitate greater international cooperation.

Dr. Chang stressed that ITRI looks forward to more collaboration with the UK on semiconductors to enhance the resilience of the supply chain. While the UK possesses cutting-edge capabilities in semiconductor IP design and compound semiconductor technology, ITRI has extensive expertise in semiconductor technology R&D and trial production. As a result, ITRI is well-positioned to offer consultation services for advanced packaging pilot lines, facilitate pre-production evaluation, and link British semiconductor IP design companies with Taiwan's semiconductor industry chain. "The expansion of British manufacturers' service capacity in Taiwan would create a mutually beneficial outcome for both Taiwan and the UK," said Dr. Chang.

Global semiconductor materials market revenue grew 8.9% to $72.7 billion in 2022, surpassing the previous market high of $66.8 billion set in 2021, SEMI, the global industry association representing the electronics manufacturing and design supply chain, reported today in its Materials Market Data Subscription (MMDS). Wafer fabrication materials and packaging materials revenue in 2022 reached $44.7 billion and $28.0 billion, respectively, increasing 10.5% and 6.3%. The silicon, electronic gases, and photomask segments showed the strongest growth in the wafer fabrication materials market, while the organic substrates segment largely drove packaging materials market growth.

For the 13th consecutive year, Taiwan, at $20.1 billion, was the world's largest consumer of semiconductor materials on the strength of its foundry capacity and advanced packaging base. China continued to register strong year-over-year results, ranking second in 2022, while Korea finished as the third largest consumer of semiconductor materials. Most regions registered high single- or double-digit growth last year.

Mark Liu, the executive Chairman of TSMC, has responded to recent reports released by the North American media about supposedly challenging workplace conditions. Current and former employees of the company's U.S operation have taken anonymously to Glassdoor to complain about "brutal" treatment on behalf of TSMC leadership—resulting in a 27% overall approval rating, which sits unfavorably next to the scores of nearby competitors—for example Intel gets 85%, albeit from far more user submissions. Liu has made comments to a Taiwanese news outlet (Focus Taiwan) where he suggests that: "those who are unwilling to take shifts should not enter the industry, since this field isn't just about lucrative wages but rather a passion for (semiconductors)."

TSMC is trying to meet staffing targets for its Phoenix, Arizona operation, but early feedback and difficult residential living could stifle this recruitment drive. Liu thinks that his North American division will offer potential employees a workplace culture that is unlike the one set for crew back in Taiwan. He told the local reporter that American TSMC team members will have an easier time, relative to how things are run at the company's native facilities. He also states that leadership is open to discussions with NA workers, as long as company values are followed (to a tee).

According to the report from Reuters, Acer has apparently continued shipment of computer hardware to Russia, despite the firm supposedly suspending its operations in the country. With the war in Ukraine, on April 8 of, 2022, Acer published a statement: "Due to recent developments, Acer has decided to suspend its business in Russia." However, today Reuters reports that it has gained access to documents/data of customs that confirm that Acer has shipped computer hardware worth at least 70.4 million US Dollars between the period of April 8, 2022, and March 31, 2023.

Interestingly, Acer is a firm headquartered in Taiwan. However, Switzerland-based Acer Sales International SA entity shipped these units to Russia, thus not violating any Taiwanese sanctions to Russia that are in place. When asked about these shipments, Acer in Taiwan responded: "We strictly adhere to applicable international regulations and trade laws regarding exports to Russia." Additionally, the company stated that the Swiss subsidiary "had not shipped any laptops or desktops to Russia since April 8 last year." Still, instead, it had supplied a "limited number of displays and accessories to the Russian market for civilian daily use while ensuring compliance with international sanctions."

TSMC is having a tough time establishing itself in the United States with new manufacturing facilities - the Taiwanese multinational semiconductor contract manufacturing and design company is putting a great deal of effort into finishing its new Arizona foundry, located in the greater Phoenix area. A minor fire incident occurred at one of their construction sites in late April, and North American news outlets last week reported on the company's struggle to recruit enough staff - approximately 4500 positions - for its upcoming Arizona plants. Current and former employees of TSMC in the U.S. have taken to the Glassdoor review website - user feedback has so far awarded the company a 27% approval rating via 91 submissions, thus warning potential candidates to stay away. Apparently American staffers have found it difficult to adjust to TSMC's corporate culture, and the company could face further challenges when transferring staff from Taiwan.

The latest news from Arizona points to problems encountered at the so-called "TSMC Village" - actually two residential locations divided into "A" and "B" categories. Taiwan's Economic Daily released a video report late last month covering crime-related incidents - this information has since been picked up by Western news outlets. Perpetrators have targeted houses and cars within these new build communities - UDN's footage indicates that seven vehicles located in Village A were damaged with a portion of them broken into. A single Village B property was accessed by possible squatters, and an unspecified number of TSMC engineers have been "robbed" throughout May. Several residents were contacted by UDN - interviewees expressed frustrations with the lack of security in the area, and blamed a local management company for not bolstering prevention measures.

Marsrhino demonstrated its high-end gaming chair product range at this year's Computex - including Infinite GT, Infinite GT Black, Infinite Air and Infinite S models. These are all constructed at the company's Taiwan factory facility and are offered with five year warranties. Marsrhino has clearly taken influence from premium ergonomic office chair designs - the Infinite lineup shares many industry standard features while maintaining a classy gaming aesthetic - such as fully adjustable lumbar supports via their unique 3D somatosensory system, tilt plus lock functionality, breathable elasticated mesh and foam backings, 4D positional armrests, 2D adjustable headrests, aluminium alloy bases (enamel finish) with a Class-4 gas lift cylinder and large PU super quiet (muted) casters.

Anacomda, a Taiwanese memory, storage, and accessories maker, had a booth at Computex 2023, where the company presented the new DDR5 memory kits with speeds ranging up to 7000 MHz. Starting off, we have the model called "Standard," which is just a standard DDR5 UDIMM memory kit available as 8 and 16 GB DIMM, in 2x 8 GB and 2x 16 GB capacities. Running at 4800 MHz, the standard kit has a CAS latency of 40, with a running voltage set to 1.1 Volts. Next is the KingSnake Overclocking UDIMM, which is, as the name suggests, a kit optimized for overclocking. Available in frequencies of 5600/6000/6200/7000 MHz, these memory modules run at 1.25 or 1.45 Volts at CAS latencies of 40 and 36. They also come in 16 GB and 32 GB capacities.

Last but not least, there is an ET (EryxTataricus) unbuffered UDIMM kit that is basically an RGB version of KingSnake, with all the same features except the inclusion of RGB lighting capable of syncing with all modern motherboard RGB software.

TYAN, an industry-leading server platform design manufacturer and a subsidiary of MiTAC Computing Technology Corporation, will be showcasing its latest HPC, cloud and storage platforms at Computex 2023, Booth #M0701a in Taipei, Taiwan from May 30 to June 2. These platforms are powered by AMD EPYC 9004 Series processors, which offer superior energy efficiency and are designed to enhance data center computing performance.

"As businesses increasingly prioritize sustainability in their operations, data centers - which serve as the computational core of an organization - offer a significant opportunity to improve efficiency and support ambitious sustainability targets," said Eric Kuo, Vice President of the Server Infrastructure Business Unit at MiTAC Computing Technology Corporation. "TYAN's server platforms powered by 4th Gen AMD EPYC processor enable IT organizations to achieve high performance while remaining cost-effective and contributing to environmental sustainability."

After a three year hiatus, In Win Development Inc. (InWin), will rejoin COMPUTEX 2023 in full force. This year, InWin will showcase its growing range of high performance AIO cooling solutions, professional-grade cooling fans, new ATX 3.0 power supplies, updates to its iBuildiShare initiative, and exciting collaborative products with some of the PC industry's top brands.

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See InWin's latest MR and TR series AIO liquid coolers that can really take the heat, chilling even the hottest chips down to the core. Cooling enthusiasts are in for a treat with the introduction of the new InWin Neptune fan series that's destined to cool the hottest of hardware!

ASUS today announced that TWS, Taiwan's leading AI company, showcased its Formosa Foundation Model at AIHPCcon Taiwan AI Supercomputing Conference. The TWS Formosa Foundation Model is powered by the Taiwania 2 supercomputer and boasts an impressive scale of 176 billion parameters. The theme of this year's annual technology event, held on May 17th, was AI 2.0, Supercomputing, and the New Ecosystem. Numerous startups and AI 2.0 partners were invited to showcase their AI intelligence applications.

The Formosa Foundation Model combines the ability to comprehend and generate text with traditional Chinese semantics, offering enterprise-level generative AI solutions through a novel business model. These solutions provide flexibility, security, and rapid optimization tailored to industry applications while leveraging ecosystem partnerships, creating trusted AI 2.0 opportunities, and driving AI intelligence application innovation to capture the trends and opportunities in AI digital business.

MediaTek is rumored to have partnered up with NVIDIA in a new joint effort to create graphically powerful mobile chipsets. DigiTimes Asia reports that the two fabless companies are collaborating on a flagship-level smartphone SoC that could arrive in early 2024. MediaTek is hoping that this tech union will help advance its application processors with AI enhancements and greater gaming functionalities. Insider sources also claim that the partnership extends to the development of WOA (Windows on Arm) platform products for notebook applications.

DigiTimes believes that NVIDIA is seeking new market scope - outside of its normal staple of gaming and enterprise GPUs - opportunities within the smartphone and notebook market are part of an overall expansion strategy, including the teaming up with MediaTek. Arch rival AMD has been working with Samsung for a number of years on RDNA-based "Xclipse" iGPUs, as featured in several existing and upcoming flagship Exynos mobile chipsets, and Team Green is seemingly interested in doing something similar. MediaTek is keen to expand its processor presence in the notebook world - its current offerings only target the entry-level segment - and the alliance with NVIDIA could result in forthcoming mid-range and high-end WOA platform products.

Foxconn has commited to $500 million of investments into new operations within Telangana, a southern state located in India. The region's IT minister, K. T. Rama Rao, broke the news earlier today and declared that the Taiwanese multinational electronics contract manufacturer will be building new factory facilities - with the first example breaking ground in Kongara Kalan (a village to the south of Hyderabad) this morning.

The minister estimates that the "first phase" of new Foxconn manufacturing plants will help generate 25,000 "direct jobs" across the state of Telangana. Reuters has previously reported that Foxconn has been granted a new contract for the manufacture of next generation AirPods - Apple is a key client for the company, and executives have pushed for a shift in production locations due to problems encountered in China. Foxconn's move into India is observed as a strategic decision - facilities are less likely to get shutdown (due to health restrictions) and the country is not getting hit with advanced semiconductor sanctions.

The NAND memory industry is not in great shape at the moment, with the big three (Micron, Samsung, SK Hynix) having reported significant financial losses in this area recently. If you include Kioxia and Western Digital as part of this collective picture, a grand total of over $10 billion has been lost in the flash memory segment. According to DigiTimes Asia this week, Pua Khein-Seng - the chief executive officer of Phison Electronics Corporation - has warned that parts of the industry could collapse due to potential company bankruptcies.

Khein-Seng informed attendees at a press conference that forced NAND price cuts are not feasible in the current market environment, and that supply chains could be affected if related companies start to shutdown - due to operational losses. He expects 3D NAND manufacturers to cutback on output in order to soften the market, and unit price increases are also a possibility. Phison has experienced a drop in revenues for the first quarter of 2023, but the CEO insists that his company is not willing to cutback on research and development costs - 80% of its annual expense budget will be invested in future projects. Khein-Seng states that rival companies have reduced spending on R&D by 20%, yet Phison remains committed to its clients by providing cutting edge technology (for example the E26 SSD memory controller).

MediaTek has been unveiling some new mobile chipsets this week, but keen-eyed news outlets have noticed that the Taiwanese fabless semiconductor company is simply renaming and relaunching hardware from last year, with some tweaks here and there. Today's announcement of the Dimensity 8050 SoC was almost immediately questioned - GSMArena noticed that this "new" model was a near dead ringer, in terms of specifications, for last year's mid-range Dimensity 1300 and 1200 smartphone chipsets. There are some upgrades in terms of memory bandwidth, and MediaTek boasts that the 8050 has been updated with its sixth generation HyperEngine technology.

Alarm bells were ringing when folks realized that the much older Dimensity 8000 SoC was built on a 5 nm process - the supposedly superior (in terms of model number hierarchy) 8005 is a 6 nm chip. Last week the mobile specialist site also spotted that MediaTek's Dimensity 7050 chipset was yet another example of the smartphone tech company rolling out a "rebranding phase." The news outlet pointed out that this newly revealed mobile CPU was just a renamed Dimensity 1080 - with the original model having hit the market in November 2022. MediaTek seems to renaming several older chipsets based on TSMC's 6 nm process - it is possible that this effort is part of a company drive to clear surplus silicon.

TSMC, a Taiwanese semiconductor giant, is reportedly talking to its partners to develop an $11 billion (€10 billion) factory in Germany with the help of a few European partners. Currently assessing the plant location for Saxony in Germany, the fab wouldn't only be exclusively made by TSMC but will bring in NXP, Bosch, and Infineon that, will create a budget of around 7 billion Euros, including state subsidies, while the total budget is leaning closer to 10 billion Euros in total. However, it is essential to note that TSMC is still assessing the possibility of a Europe-based plant altogether.

Asking for as much as 40% of the total investment to be European-backed subsidies, TSMC wants to create a European facility that will be focused on a growing sector--automotive. If approved in August, the TSMC plant will become the company's first European facility and will first focus on manufacturing 28 nm chips. As one of the first significant EU Chips Act €43 billion investment, it will heavily boost European semiconductor manufacturing.

Last October, the US Department of Commerce imposed semiconductor restrictions on Chinese imports of equipment for processes of 18 nm and below. SK hynix's Wuxi fab was granted a one-year production license, but geopolitical risks and weak demand prompted the company to reduce wafer starts by about 30% per month in 2Q23, according to TrendForce's latest research.

TrendForce reports that SK hynix had planned to transition its Wuxi fab's mainstream process from 1Y nm to 1Z nm, decreasing the output of legacy processes. However, due to limitations imposed by the US ban, the company instead opted to increase the share of its 21 nm production lines, focus-ing on DDR3 and DDR4 4Gb products. SK hynix's long-term strategy involves shifting its capacity expansion back to South Korea, while the Wuxi fab caters to domestic demand in China and the legacy-process consumer DRAM market.

TAITRA (Taiwan External Trade Development Council) today announced that NVIDIA founder and CEO Jensen Huang will deliver the keynote address in person at COMPUTEX 2023. The keynote will take place at the Taipei Nangang Exhibition Center Hall 2 on Monday, May 29, at 11:00 AM (UTC+8), and cover advanced developments in the fields of accelerated computing and artificial intelligence. Welcome to join and Register Now. A livestream and replay of the keynote will be available here.

NVIDIA, the pioneer in accelerated computing that enabled the AI revolution, announced at its most recent GTC conference a series of breakthroughs in generative AI, simulation and collaboration that are boosting productivity and efficiency for leading companies around the world. At this year's COMPUTEX Forum, NVIDIA's Greg Estes, VP of Corporate Marketing and Developer Programs, will deliver a talk entitled "Racing Towards the Industrial Metaverse", sharing how NVIDIA and its partners are using Omniverse, generative AI, and accelerated computing to enable an exciting new era of 3D workflows. His talk will take place on Tuesday, May 30, from 2:30 to 3:00 p.m.

It appears it's not only AMD that is eyeing a move to Samsung, when it comes to fabricating upcoming chips, as reports are now suggesting that Qualcomm is considering a second attempt at making flagship mobile SoCs at Samsung's foundry. However, in this case, we're talking 3 nm chips in the shape of the Snapdragon 8 Gen 4, which is expected to launch in devices sometime in 2024. This is said to be Qualcomm's first chip based on cores built by Nuvia, a company that Qualcomm acquired in 2021.

That said, Qualcomm will apparently not rely on Samsung alone, but will also be making the Snapdragon 8 Gen 4 at TSMC. This might be because of past experience with Samsung, but the report out of Taiwan, suggests that the chips made by Samsung's foundry business will be used in Samsung branded phones, whereas the TSMC made chips might end up in devices by Qualcomm's other customers. It could also be a bet for Qualcomm to try and get better pricing by both foundries or a means of hedging their bets, to see which foundry produces the better chips. Then there's the situation between the PRC and the ROC, which could potentially put Qualcomm in a situation where it has no chips, so going with Samsung could be a means of covering for all potential risk scenarios.

TSMC has confirmed to Taiwan News this weekend that a fire at its Phoenix-general area, Arizona semiconductor plant was only "limited to an outside trash chute and immediately extinguished" - the chipmaker was responding to an afternoon incident from Friday (April 28). A worker took photos of black smoke rising from a section of the brand new factory, the employee then proceeded to share their snaps online via a discussion board. A local firefighting crew extinguished the blaze soon after evacuating workers from the affected area, a preliminary investigation conducted by the emergency responders found that the fire originated from a waste/refuse chute. A root cause has not yet been identified according to the newspaper's article.

The Arizona plant was not the only TSMC location to play host to an unexpected incident this week - reports from Wednesday (April 26) state that a fire broke out during the (preceding) evening/night at a company facility in North Taiwan. No injuries or casualties were reported following a response by firefighters who had the situation under control soon after 9 pm - TSMC believes that the fire started at around 19:30. The incomplete factory is situated within Taiwan's Hsinchu Science Park, and is set to bolster the company's existing advanced 3D IC package manufacturing efforts. Part of the facility will also be setup as a component testing lab. TSMC has declared that it is conducting an investigation into the incident at its Zhunan, Miaoli County location.

Sparkle, a Taiwanese computer electronics maker, is again entering the GPU market after almost ten years of inactivity in the space. A while back, Sparkle was one of NVIDIA's original Add-In Board (AIB) partners and helped them launch the GeForce 7900 PCI GPU. The company continued to make NVIDIA-based GPUs until GTX 700 series in 2013. After a decade, Sparkle is back again with ambitions to be Intel's AIB partner and announced not one but three graphics cards to start. Called A750 Titan, A750 Orc, and A380 Elf, these cards feature triple-fan, dual-fan, and single-fan coolers, respectively.

The first in line is the Sparkle A750 Titan, a triple-fan, 2.5-slot design based on Intel Arc A750 GPU. Featuring 8 GB of GDDR6 VRAM, this top-end A750 SKU is clocked at 2300 MHz, up from the factory's 2050 MHz frequency. Titan's smaller brother is Sparkle A750 Orc, a dual-fan, "2.2"-slot (we assume smaller than two and a half and bigger than two slots) GPU with the same A750 GPU; however, it clocked slightly lower at 2200 MHz. Both models feature single HDMI 2.0 and 3x DisplayPort 2.0 output ports and require two 8-pin PCI power connectors. Lastly, we have the Sparkle A380 Elf, a half-length, ITX-sized GPU that fits in two slots and has a single-fan cooler. It is based on Intel Arc A380 and has identical specifications without factory overclocks applied. Pricing and availability are currently unknown.

Conflicting reports are flying around about Apple's next generation MacBook Air lineup, mostly surrounding suggestions of a firm release date or debut reveal at WWDC 2023. 9to5Mac claims that its insider sources have pointed to a new range of M3 chipset powered MacBook Air extra thin laptops offered up in two different screen sizes: 13-inch and 15-inch. An insider claimed last month that Apple's upcoming laptop lineup was in an advanced stage of production, and was far along enough to warrant an "imminent" launch window. A Taiwanese publication has presented new evidence this week, and it posits that Apple could drop M3 chipset-based laptops from announcement presentations organized for this year's Worldwide Developers Conference, which is set to take place from June 5 to 9.

According to the financial section of Taiwan's UDN news site, Apple's key decision makers could be in favor of fielding laptops based on its current generation M2 SoC, instead of an entry-level M3-based range, due to delays and changes in priority for the N3B node at TSMC foundries. This is seen as an odd move given reports from earlier this month of Apple requesting a reduction in factory output for its M2 chips, following a slump in demand. Apple could be changing its strategy with regards to the alleged surplus of M2 silicon - the article theorizes that the company will spend more time fitting the older generation chipsets into a new range of laptops and desktop computers. An M3-based product line could be delayed into late 2023, and it is alleged that TSMC has been instructed to concentrate mostly on manufacturing Apple's Bionix A17 mobile chipset via the cutting edge 3 nm FinFet technology process (N3B) - earmarked to debut on the iPhone 15 Pro in autumn 2023.

Early details of MediaTek's next generation mobile chipset have emerged this week, courtesy of renowned leaker Digital Chat Station via their blog on Weibo. The successor to MediaTek's current flagship Dimensity 9200 mobile chipset will likely be called "Dimensity 9300" - a very imaginative bump up in numbering - with smartphone brand Vivo involved as a collaborator. The tipster thinks that the fabless semiconductor company has contracted with TSMC for fabrication of the Dimensity 9300 chipset - and the foundry's N4P process has been selected by MediaTek, which could provide a bump in generational performance when compared to the older 4 nm and 5 nm standards used for past Dimensity SoC ranges. It should be noted that the current generation Dimensity 9200 chipset is presently manufactured via TSMC's N4P process.

MediaTek is seeking to turnaround its fortunes in the area of flagship mobile chipsets - industry watchdogs have cited a limited uptake of the Taiwanese company's Dimensity 9200 SoC as a motivating factor in the creation of a very powerful successor. Digital Chat Station suggests that the upcoming 9300 model will pack enough of a hardware punch to rival Qualcomm's forthcoming Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 SoC - both chipsets are touted to release within the same time period of late 2023. According to previous speculation, Qualcomm has also contracted with TSMC's factory to pump out the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 via the N4P (4 nm) process.