It is reported that TSMC's next-generation 3-nanometer (3-nm) chip production technology will be put into use as early as next year, and Apple and Intel will be the first customers to adopt this technology. Compared with 5nm, 3nm technology can improve computing performance by 10% to 15% and reduce power consumption by 25% to 30%, according to TSMC.
Apple and Intel are using TSMC's 3nm production technology to test their designed chips, and commercial production of such chips is expected to begin in the second half of next year, according to people familiar with the matter.
Nanometer is the unit of width between transistors on a chip. The smaller the number, the more advanced the chip, but the more challenging and expensive the chip is. At present, the most advanced chip production technology for consumer products is TSMC's 5nm technology, which is used in all iPhone12 processor chips.
According to sources, Apple's iPad may be the first product to use 3nm chip technology, and the next generation of iPhone, launched next year, is expected to use 4nm technology.
Intel, the largest US chipmaker, is working with TSMC on at least two 3nm projects to design CPU (central processing units) for laptops and data center servers in an attempt to regain market share lost to AMD and Nvidia in the past few years.
Sources revealed that Intel's current demand for 3nm chips exceeds Apple's iPad demand.
For Intel, which designs and manufactures chips, the partnership with TSMC is designed to help the company tide over the difficulties until it can put its in-house production technology back on the cutting edge.
Intel has postponed its 7nm production technology to around 2023, lagging far behind Asian rivals TSMC and Samsung Electronics. The company also said this week that the release of Intel's top 10 nanotechnology (Xeon) processor was also postponed from the end of this year to the second quarter of next year.
Pat Gilsinger (Pat Gelsinger), Intel's chief executive, said the company's relationship with TSMC was a "cooperative and competitive" relationship, a combination of cooperation and competition. The company confirmed earlier this year that it would work with TSMC on several processor chip projects, and Intel outsourced production of its core products for the first time in history.
Chip technology is not only a competition in the commercial field, but also has risen to the level of national science and technology strategy.
The United States, the European Union and Japan are scrambling to relocate production of important chips to China, citing national security risks. The United States believes that the delay in Intel 7 nanometer chip production technology has brought "security risks."
The United States recently approved a $52 billion chip support program to invest in the local semiconductor industry. A bipartisan group of six US senators proposed a bill in mid-June to provide a 25 per cent tax credit for investment in US semiconductor manufacturing in pursuit of US leadership in chip manufacturing.
