TSMC Secures First 3nm Customer... Competition for Orders with Samsung Heats Up (Comprehensive)

TSMC to Begin Mass Production of M2 Pro Chip Next Month... Fierce Competition for Clients and Technology

[Asia Economy Reporter Han Yeju] The competition in ultra-fine semiconductor processes between Samsung Electronics, which claimed the title of 'world's first mass production of 3nm,' and Taiwan's TSMC, which successfully secured Apple as its first 3nm customer, is expected to intensify. Industry insiders are closely watching whether Samsung Electronics, which has produced cutting-edge chips using Gate-All-Around (GAA) technology, can poach customers from TSMC, the 'industry leader' known for its stable yield (the ratio of good products among produced items) and trust.

According to foreign media on the 22nd, TSMC has secured Apple as the first customer for its 3nm process foundry (semiconductor contract manufacturing) and will begin mass production of 3nm chips next month. TSMC's 3nm process will be applied to Apple's self-designed M2 Pro chip. Devices equipped with the M2 Pro chip, such as the 14- and 16-inch MacBook Pro and the high-end Mac Mini, are expected to be released by the end of this year or the first half of next year.

Initially, there was analysis in Taiwan that TSMC's 3nm mass production plan was delayed because Intel, initially known as TSMC's first 3nm customer, postponed new product production to next year.

Market research firm TrendForce reported earlier this month that "Intel delayed the mass production of the GPU chipset embedded in the 14th generation CPU 'Meteor Lake' from the second half of this year to the first half of next year due to product design and process verification issues, and then postponed it again to the end of next year." As a result, concerns arose that TSMC's 3nm mass production could be delayed until next year at the latest. At that time, TSMC told local media that "the company's capacity expansion projects are proceeding as planned."

If TSMC starts 3nm mass production next month, it will begin about three months later than Samsung Electronics. Samsung Electronics started initial mass production on June 30, becoming the world's first to apply GAA technology in a 3nm foundry process. GAA technology reduces transistor performance degradation caused by process miniaturization and improves data processing speed and power efficiency, making it a next-generation semiconductor core technology that advances beyond the existing FinFET technology.

TSMC plans to maintain the existing FinFET process up to 3nm this year and introduce the GAA process starting from 2nm in 2024, so Samsung Electronics appears to be two years ahead in the process roadmap. In fact, Samsung Electronics' 3nm GAA process reduces power consumption by 45% and improves performance by 23% compared to the 5nm FinFET process, showing numerical superiority over TSMC. TSMC's 3nm is known to increase integration density by 1.6 times, improve speed by 15%, and reduce power consumption by 30% compared to 5nm under the same conditions.

However, some believe that Samsung Electronics has not completely surpassed TSMC in technology. TSMC's 3nm, even if FinFET, is considered mature and stable. For now, customers have no compelling reason to choose Samsung's unproven 3nm GAA.

Non-memory customers prefer stable processes over aggressive adoption of new processes. Unlike memory, non-memory semiconductors have low versatility, so it is important to reliably supply ordered quantities at the desired time. In fact, Samsung's secured 3nm GAA customer is a Chinese ASIC (Application-Specific Integrated Circuit) company related to cryptocurrency, and the volume is reportedly minimal.

Ultimately, the key to winning 3nm orders will be who can improve yield faster and secure major customers such as Qualcomm and Nvidia. TSMC plans to continuously upgrade its process and mass-produce the second-generation 3nm process after mid-next year, while Samsung plans the second-generation 3nm GAA process in 2024.

Kim Yangjae, a researcher at Daol Investment & Securities, pointed out, "Securing stable yield for the first-generation GAA process as a reference will be crucial for acquiring new customers after the 2nm process in 2024."

Meanwhile, according to TrendForce, TSMC's foundry market share in the first quarter of this year was 53.6%, with Samsung Electronics ranking second at 16.3%.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.