TSMC's 3nm Production to Hit 100,000 Wafers in 2023

Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC) has witnessed a substantial uptick in the number of 3nm Tape-Outs, signifying heightened manufacturing activities. Notably, key clients including MediaTek, AMD, NVIDIA, and Qualcomm are poised to scale up their production in the coming years. TSMC has unveiled plans to bolster its monthly production capacity for the 3nm family of processes from the current 60,000 wafers to an impressive 100,000 wafers by the latter half of the following year.

TSMC commenced volume production of its inaugural 3nm process node, N3, in the latter part of the previous year. An upgraded variant of the 3nm process, N3E, is slated to commence production in the latter part of the current year. Furthermore, TSMC has outlined an ambitious roadmap that includes the introduction of several extended 3nm processes, totaling five in all, encompassing N3, N3E, N3P, N3S, and N3X.

TSMC has successfully produced the world's first 3nm smartphone chip, the Apple A17 Pro, which offers critical support to Apple's latest iPhone 15 Pro series. Reports indicate that TSMC is exclusively dedicated to producing 3nm technology for Apple in the year 2023.

In a recent development, MediaTek has announced the successful Tape-Out of new Dimensity chips utilizing TSMC's 3nm process and anticipates commencing production in the coming year. Notably, industry insiders have affirmed that, in addition to Apple and MediaTek, AMD, NVIDIA, Qualcomm, and Intel are all firmly committed to adopting the N3 family of processes.

Earlier reports suggested that TSMC's 3nm process yield was expected to reach around 65,000 wafers per month, making it unlikely to meet the previously anticipated target of 80,000 to 100,000 wafers in the fourth quarter. This has prompted speculation about TSMC's ability to meet its revenue growth target of 4-6% for N3 in 2023.