TSMC Angstrom Node May Hit $45K per Wafer
According to reports from Taiwanese media, TSMC is set to begin mass production of its advanced 2nm process by the end of this year, with major chipmakers such as AMD, MediaTek, Apple, and Qualcomm preparing to adopt the technology. Industry sources reveal that the total cost for designing and producing a 2nm chip could reach as high as $725 million. Meanwhile, the price per 2nm wafer is expected to surge to $30,000, and with future angstrom-level nodes like the A16 process, prices may climb to $45,000 per wafer—making the technology feasible only for top-tier players.
Sources within the semiconductor supply chain indicate that TSMC's 2nm monthly capacity could reach 30,000 wafers by the end of 2025, with the number of new tape-outs in 2026 projected to be four times greater than those for the 5nm process during the same period. This trend underscores how access to cutting-edge nodes is becoming a critical moat for chip design leaders.
Publicly available information confirms that AMD has already initiated 2nm tape-out for its next-generation EPYC server processors at TSMC. Fujitsu in Japan is also working with TSMC's 2nm process to build its upcoming AI CPUs. MediaTek is expected to finalize its 2nm chip design this September, likely for the flagship Dimensity 9600 chip launching next year. Qualcomm is reportedly planning to manufacture its third-generation Snapdragon 8 Elite mobile platform on the same node. Apple's upcoming A20/A20 Pro chips and the next-generation M6 series for Mac are all set to adopt TSMC's 2nm process as well.
Looking ahead, leading cloud service providers are expected to transition their ASIC products to 2nm before 2027. These include Google's eighth-generation TPU, Amazon AWS's Trainium 4, and Microsoft's Maia 300—all poised to leverage TSMC's most advanced technology.
TSMC is aggressively expanding its 2nm production capacity to meet surging demand. Construction efforts are rapidly advancing at both its Baoshan and Kaohsiung sites, with analysts predicting this node could set a new record for reaching full utilization in the shortest time ever.
Driven by soaring demand for AI accelerators, TSMC forecasts a robust revenue growth trajectory, with a compound annual growth rate expected to reach the mid-40% range over the next five years starting in 2024. Industry experts note that producing chips at this level of advancement involves over 2,000 individual process steps. Managing microscopic variations on the wafer surface requires not only best-in-class process control but also deep expertise accumulated through years of experience—solidifying TSMC's lead as a manufacturing powerhouse that cannot be easily overtaken.
