TSMC to Kickstart 5 nm Volume Production in April, Production Capacity Already Fully Booked
TSMC will be doing good on their previous expectations for a H2 2020 ramp-up for high volume production (HVM) on their 5 nm manufacturing process. The new 5 nm fabrication process is an Extreme Ultraviolet lithography (EUV) one, with up to 14 layers being etchable onto the silicon wafers, as opposed to five and six, respectively, for TSMC's N7+ and N6 processes.
Volume production will start with Apple's A14 SoC, meant to be driving next-generation iPhones that should hit shelves by September this year (should the COVID-19 pandemic let it be so). Apple is using two thirds of TSMC's capacity for 5 nm as is with this SoC; it's currently unclear which client (or clients) are getting the leftover one third capacity. TSMC announced back in December that they were seeing yields upwards of 80% in 5 nm EUV fabrication, so now it's "just" a matter of monetizing the process until their 3 nm iteration comes online, expectedly, in 2022.
Volume production will start with Apple's A14 SoC, meant to be driving next-generation iPhones that should hit shelves by September this year (should the COVID-19 pandemic let it be so). Apple is using two thirds of TSMC's capacity for 5 nm as is with this SoC; it's currently unclear which client (or clients) are getting the leftover one third capacity. TSMC announced back in December that they were seeing yields upwards of 80% in 5 nm EUV fabrication, so now it's "just" a matter of monetizing the process until their 3 nm iteration comes online, expectedly, in 2022.
