"TSMC 3-Nanometer Process Achieves Full Utilization Within Five Quarters of Mass Production"

Market Research Firm Counterpoint Research Analysis
Strong Demand for AI Chips Drives Growth
"Next-Generation 2-Nanometer Process Expected to Reach Full Utilization in Just Four Quarters"

Market research firm Counterpoint Research reported on May 21 that TSMC (Taiwan), the world's leading foundry (semiconductor contract manufacturing) company, achieved a 100% utilization rate for its advanced 3-nanometer (nm, one billionth of a meter) process within just five quarters after mass production began, marking the shortest period in history.

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This achievement is attributed to a surge in demand for products such as the Apple A17 Pro and A18 Pro, as well as central processing units (CPUs) for PCs and other application processors (AP AoC). There are also projections that this high utilization rate will be sustained due to increasing demand for AI chips and high-performance computing (HPC), including Nvidia Rubin, Google TPU v7, and AWS Trainium 3.

The nanometer is a unit that refers to the line width of semiconductor circuits. The narrower the line width, the lower the power consumption and the faster the processing speed. The 3-nanometer process is currently the most advanced mass production technology among foundry companies.

Counterpoint Research also predicted that TSMC's 2-nanometer process, which is scheduled to begin mass production in the second half of this year, will reach full utilization within four quarters. This would be the fastest pace ever achieved for any process. TSMC also stated in its recent first-quarter earnings announcement that "the number of new designs in the initial two years of 2-nanometer technology mass production is expected to exceed those for 3-nanometer and 5·4-nanometer, with demand being driven by smartphones and HPC applications."

Counterpoint Research added, "In addition to Apple, companies such as Qualcomm, MediaTek, Intel, and AMD are reportedly considering adopting 2-nanometer technology," and projected that "such adoption of 2-nanometer technology will contribute to maintaining a high utilization rate for the 2-nanometer process."

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