TSMC's 3nm Capacity in High Demand Among Tech Giants

TapTechNews June 11, according to the report of Economic Daily, Apple, Qualcomm, Nvidia and AMD have divided up the 3nm series process capacity of TSMC, resulting in other manufacturers queuing up to bid, and currently the relevant orders have been lined up until 2026.

As for whether the price will increase due to the tight 3nm capacity, TSMC emphasized: The pricing strategy has always been strategy-oriented, not opportunity-oriented, and will continue to work closely with customers to provide more value.

TSMC's 3nm series processes include N3, N3E, N3P, N3X and N3A, etc. TSMC began mass-producing the N3E process in the fourth quarter of last year, mainly for AI accelerator cards, high-end smartphones, etc.; TSMC plans to mass-produce N3P in the second half of this year and is estimated to be widely used in mobile phones, consumer products, base stations and other products in 2026; N3X and N3A are customized for high-speed computing and automotive customers.

The industry believes that under the situation that customers are rushing to reserve capacity, the 3nm series capacity of TSMC continues to be tight and will become the norm in the nearly two years, and the relevant orders have not included the entrusted demand of Intel central processing unit (CPU) yet.

TapTechNews reported in May this year that TSMC plans to build 7 new factories in 2024, and the 3nm capacity this year will reach four times that of last year, but it may still not be able to meet the market demand.

In terms of Apple, it is estimated that the iPhone 16 series will be launched in September this year, which is the first iPhone product equipped with AI function for Apple, and will definitely attract more users to switch phones.

The media predicted that Apple's stocking quantity of the iPhone 16 series this year reaches 92-95 million units, an increase of 5% year-on-year, and TSMC is the exclusive supplier of chips for the iPhone 16 series.