Finally, Apple’s Supplier TSMC Kicks Off Volume Production of 3nm Chip in Taiwan

After months of speculation, the world's largest contract chipmaker and Apple’s key supplier, TSMC, has started the mass production of its most-advanced 3nm chips, in southern Taiwan on Thursday, in line with what the company had said earlier. 

The company's chairman, Mark Liu, emphasised their plans to expand its production and capacity on the island. "TSMC is maintaining its technology leadership while investing significantly in Taiwan, continuing to invest and prosper with the environment,"  said Liu. He added that there is a high demand for the firm's 3nm chip because of emerging technologies, including 5G and high-performance computing products and that the new 3nm technology will deliver finished goods with a $1.5 trillion market value within five years.

TSMC, Apple and Nvidia’s key chip supplier, said earlier this month that it would invest $40 billion, which is more than triple its investment, in its new Arizona plant. Now, companies like Apple, Nvidia, and others will be able to produce their chips locally rather than importing them from China. As a result, the chip market will become more competitive and varied while enabling these businesses to stamp their products as "Made in America". TSMC is also constructing a chip factory in Japan and planning to expand into Germany. Liu stated that the mass production in Taiwan shows that TSMC's overseas investment would not undermine Taiwan's dominant position as a major semiconductor producer and maker of the most advanced chips.

The next generation of 2nm chips was expected to be produced in northern and central Taiwan. TSMC stated that they were constructing factories for those purposes. A majority of the company's manufacturing will continue in Taiwan, according to TSMC.

Compared to the 2nm process, which will yield around 310 million transistors in the same area, 3nm technology offers 250 million transistors per square nanometre. A higher transistor counts lower power consumption while offering better performance with the same power usage.