TSMC will be mass producing 5nm chips next year, 5nm+ in the works

TSMC has started risk production of 5nm chips and expects to be ready to begin mass production in the first half of next year. This process promises much smaller chips (up to 45% area reduction), as well as performance gains (up to 15%) compared to the current 7nm chipsets. That’s ignoring improvements in architecture, of course.

For chipsets coming out later this year, TSMC has the 7nm+ process ready. It should offer 6-12% reduction in power consumption and 20% higher transistor density compared to the current 7nm process.

There are plenty of customers lined up for 7nm+. TSMC is Apple’s sole chip supplier until 2020 and there are new iPhones coming out later this year. Qualcomm will likely pick TSMC for the new premium Snapdragons as it used the 7nm process for the 855. Huawei should introduce a new Kirin with the Mate 30 later this year, though it may stick to the current 7nm process instead of going for 7nm+.

TSMC’s next process node, 5nm+, is also in the works. It will start risk production in Q1 next year and will be ready for mass production in 2021. It should improve performance and power numbers, but there are no official forecasts yet.

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