TSMC Set to Benefit from Estimated 22 Million Apple iPhone 16e Unit Sales

[T0@st]

On Wednesday (February 19), Apple announced the upcoming launch of its "budget-friendly" iPhone 16e smartphone model. The Cupertino, California-based company has refreshed its entry level product tier—starting at $599—with modernized internals. Apple's new design houses an A18 chipset, as well as their much-discussed debut modem design. The C1 is a custom 5G part; fully developed in-house. Previously, modern iPhone product ranges have been fitted with Qualcomm 5G modems. As expected, Apple contracted with TSMC for the production of A18 and C1 silicon—the A-type SoC is based on a 3 nm process node (TSMC N3E). Their proprietary modem baseband design utilizes 4 mm, while the receiver uses a 7 nm process—according to insiders.

Taiwan's Commercial Times reckons that TSMC will be the "biggest beneficiary" from the aforementioned agreement with Apple. Ctee TW's latest report cites industry analysis; soothsayers estimate annual shipments reaching roughly 22 million units annually. Additional whispers suggest that the C1 modem will turn up in non-iPhone devices—namely next-gen Watches and iPads, by next year. The report also mentions that upcoming Mac products are slated for C1 upgrades. Further leaks have linked project "Ganymede" to a "C2" custom 5G modem design—inside sources believe that a 3 nm TSMC process is on the cards. Another codename—"Prometheus"—was leaked by insiders; possibly referencing a future "C3" model.



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[Simon.J]

I just wonder how did they went through all the bureaucracy and patent procedures/lease/fees, cause as far as I know they are notoriously for imposing high fees on competitors but not it comes their turn to pay, in one particular case they called QCOM TOO GREEDY!

Wish them lack…(hopefully QCOM will make sure to ask for right fees as in Apple fashion)

 

[Daven]

I remember debating with readers (Neelycam, Chuckula, etc.) over at Techreport about TSMC. I would argue that the rise of smartphones would allow TSMC to make tons of money fabbing SoCs. This would allow them to invest in more R&D than Intel and surpass them in process node shrinking. Those guys would laugh and laugh at me. Say it would never happen. I even lost a bet on whether Intel would make it to 14 nm before a certain time. Now TSMC makes double what Intel makes and has been winning the node race for many years now.

The moral of the story: don't pick teams. Be open minded enough to see which way the winds are blowing. Sometimes it blows in your direction. Sometimes not.

 

[Vya Domus]

I even lost a bet on whether Intel would make it to 14 nm before a certain time.

It was evident TSMC was making loads of money from mobile SoCs long before that, not exactly a crazy prediction.

 

[Daven]

It was evident TSMC was making loads of money from mobile SoCs long before that, not exactly a crazy prediction.

The year was around 2009-2010 when I made the prediction. The bet came later.

 

[JohH]

But TSMC makes the Qualcomm modems they are replacing as well. Do they really net benefit?

 

[AnotherReader]

The year was around 2009-2010 when I made the prediction. The bet came later.

It was a bold prediction; that was a different time. TSMC was much smaller than Intel and Apple had just matched Intel in revenue. TSMC was struggling to get 40 nm working and ended up cancelling 32 nm while Intel was nearly a full node ahead.

 

[TheinsanegamerN]

It was a bold prediction; that was a different time. TSMC was much smaller than Intel and Apple had just matched Intel in revenue. TSMC was struggling to get 40 nm working and ended up cancelling 32 nm while Intel was nearly a full node ahead.

Not too long after, TSMC failed with 20nm as well, forcing Nvidia to backport Maxwell. I remember people thinking Intel would be the first to sub 10nm, sub 5nm, ece.

 

[Hyderz]

This would sell well, lots of people want iPhones but the latest 16 and 16pro are priced out of range for them folks

 

[Frick]

This would sell well, lots of people want iPhones but the latest 16 and 16pro are priced out of range for them folks

It's expensive for what is basically a new iPhone SE, at $599.

 

[Daven]

It's expensive for what is basically a new iPhone SE, at $599.

The iPhone SE was discontinued. The 16e received too many up to date features to be an SE and therefore cheap. Apple no longer sells a ‘budget’ phone.

 

[Frick]

The iPhone SE was discontinued. The 16e received too many up to date features to be an SE and therefore cheap. Apple no longer sells a ‘budget’ phone.

It still lacks a bunch of features though.

 

[xtrfy01]

But TSMC makes the Qualcomm modems they are replacing as well. Do they really net benefit?

this is the point

 

[TheinsanegamerN]

It still lacks a bunch of features though.

"a bunch" being magsafe and a over 60hz screen. 90% of SE buyers wont care, they were still using a form factor from 2010.

It's expensive for what is basically a new iPhone SE, at $599.

Sure, $600 is pricy, but for that price you get budget flagship specs, 8 years of support from apple, WAY better battery life then the SE 3, and apple's support network.

What other phone offers this? The only one that, brand new, offers this level is Google's Pixel lineup, and the 8a is the true competition to the 16e. Everything else that is close costs at least $200 more, usually closer to $400 more new, with shorter security update lifetimes and none of the support network that apple stores allow.

 

[RandallFlagg]

Not too long after, TSMC failed with 20nm as well, forcing Nvidia to backport Maxwell. I remember people thinking Intel would be the first to sub 10nm, sub 5nm, ece.

A lot of the hype in the 20-teens re: TSMC was marketing not factual. Intel did both a node shrink and added FinFet with 14nm, and as a result TSMC did not 'catch' Intel's node lead until they got to "10 nm".

In fact, Intel's most advanced 14nm nodes were closer to TSMCs N10 than to TSMC N12, being about 20% more dense than N12. They should have renamed them 12nm or 10nm, instead of just adding ++ to the end. That was a major marketing flub, they didn't realize until far too late.

If Intel had really put effort into an IFS node at that time, they would have undoubtedly crushed TSMC.

And Intel's "10nm" node wound up being *twice* the density of TSMCs 10FF node. That's more than a full node shrink and was comparable to TSMC N7. In fact the original N7 was about 10% *less* dense than Intel's 10nm. It wasn't until N7+ and N6 that TSMCs node beat Intel 10nm.

Which is why Intel re-named its nodes. But the damage was done, people to this day conflate TSMCs node names with nm as you just did.

 

[NoLoihi]

I just wonder how did they went through all the bureaucracy and patent procedures/lease/fees, cause as far as I know they are notoriously for imposing high fees on competitors but not it comes their turn to pay, in one particular case they called QCOM TOO GREEDY!

Wish them lack…(hopefully QCOM will make sure to ask for right fees as in Apple fashion)

News - Apple rolls out its C1 modem six years after buying in the technology from Intel

Apple claims its C1 modem is the most power efficient modem ever used in an iPhone. Apple rolls out its C1 modem six years after buying in the technology from Intel : Read more

forums.tomshardware.com

 

[bonehead123]

Taiwan's Commercial Times reckons that TSMC will be the "biggest beneficiary" from the aforementioned agreement with Apple

well...DUH, said absolutely....... ........everyone who is anyone in the tech industry and follows it closely