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takyon writes:

Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC) plans to make so-called "5nm" chips starting in early 2020:

TSMC last week held a groundbreaking ceremony for its Fab 18 phase 1 production facility. The fab will produce chips using TSMC's 5 nm process starting from early 2020. When all three phases of the manufacturing facility are completed, its wafer starts capacity will exceed one million 300-mm wafers per year, comparable with other three GigaFabs operated by TSMC.

TSMC's Fab 18 will be located in Tainan (in the Southern Taiwan Science Park), and will be built in three phases. The construction of the first phase or segment of the building will be completed in about a year from now, after which TSMC will move in equipment sometime in early 2019. In about two years from now, the company expects to start volume production of chips using its 5 nm process technology at the Fab 18/phase 1. Construction of the second and the third phases will commence in Q3 2018 and Q3 2019. The two phases will start volume production in 2020 and 2021, respectively.

Extreme ultraviolet (EUV) lithography could be used to make "7nm" chips, but not "5nm" yet.

Related: Samsung's 10nm Chips in Mass Production, "6nm" on the Roadmap
Moore's Law: Not Dead? Intel Says its 10nm Chips Will Beat Samsung's
Samsung Plans a "4nm" Process
GlobalFoundries to Spend $10-12 Billion on a 7nm Fab, Possibly $14-18 Billion for 5nm

Original Submission

takyon writes:

US poised to restrict TSMC's chip sales to China's Huawei

The United States has been aiming to curb the supply of chips sold by contract chipmaker Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. (TSMC) to China's Huawei Technologies Co. through planned heavier sanctions against the Chinese telecom equipment giant, according to a Reuters report.

The report said while tensions between Washington and Beijing have been escalating with both sides blaming each other for spreading the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19), the Trump administration has a plan to introduce new measures to further restrict global chip sales to Huawei.

Under the proposed new rules, the report, dated Thursday (March 26) in Washington, said foreign companies that use U.S. production equipment to roll out their chips would be required to obtain a U.S. license ahead of sales of certain chips to Huawei, which was blacklisted last year.

Boon for Apple, AMD, Nvidia, etc. or a disaster in the making?

Also at Tom's Hardware.

See also:
AMD is set to become TSMC's biggest 7nm customer in 2020
Report: TSMC's Reducing Its Reliance on Huawei Amid US Government Scrutiny

Related:
AMD Says TSMC Can Meet Epyc Demand; Launches New, Higher-Clocked 64-Core CPU
How China Plans to Lead the Computer Chip Industry

Original Submission

takyon writes:

TSMC Has Started The Development of The 2nm Lithography Process

Earlier this month, we saw that TSMC was getting its CoWoS interposer and 5nm production lines at full capacity. Yesterday, we found out that AMD and Nvidia bought up all of their excess capacity for next-generation GPU and CPU development. They have also been making advancements in 3nm process development, but have not been able to put much work in because many of the tools necessary are currently unavailable or hard to find due to the COVID-19 pandemic. 3nm is already a lot of work as it is, but in a recent shareholders meeting, DigiTimes was able to figure out that TSMC is already planning to start the development of the 2nm Lithographic process.

TSMC's "3nm" node has reportedly been delayed by 6 months due to the pandemic. Samsung is facing similar delays on their own "3nm" node.

TSMC's "5nm" production has not been delayed, and AMD will reportedly use an exclusive enhanced "5nm" node for Zen 4 CPUs in 2021.

Previously: TSMC's Chip-on-Wafer-on-Substrate (CoWoS) Connects Multiple Interposers
High Demand Reported for TSMC's Chip-on-Wafer-on-Substrate Packaging

Original Submission

upstart writes in with an IRC submission for guy_:

Washington in talks with chipmakers about building U.S. factories:

(Reuters) - The Trump administration is in talks with semiconductor companies about building chip factories in the United States, representatives from two chipmakers said on Sunday.

Intel Corp (INTC.O) is in discussions with the United States Department of Defense over improving domestic sources for microelectronics and related technology, Intel spokesman William Moss said in an emailed statement.

"Intel is well positioned to work with the U.S. government to operate a U.S.-owned commercial foundry and supply a broad range of secure microelectronics", the statement added.

Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC) (2330.TW), on the other hand, has been in talks with the U.S. Department of Commerce about building a U.S. factory but said it has not made a final decision yet.

"We are actively evaluating all the suitable locations, including in the U.S., but there is no concrete plan yet", TSMC spokeswoman Nina Kao said in a statement.

[...] The Trump administration's discussions with chipmakers were reported earlier by the Wall Street Journal, with the report adding that TSMC also has been talking with Apple Inc (AAPL.O), one of its largest customers, about building a chip factory in the United States.

[...] The Journal had also reported that U.S. officials are looking at helping South Korea's Samsung Electronics Co (005930.KS), which has a chip factory in Austin, Texas, to expand its contract-manufacturing operations in the United States.

The U.S. Commerce Department, Samsung and Apple did not respond to requests for comment on Sunday.

Original Submission

takyon writes:

Report: Samsung may build $10 billion advanced chipmaking plant in Austin

Samsung could build a $10 billion advanced logic chipmaking plant in Austin, according to media reports, potentially adding to the company's existing multibillion-dollar facilities in Central Texas.

If it happens, the Samsung expansion would add to a series of recent stunning wins for Austin's technology sector. In just the past six months, Austin saw electric automaker Tesla pick it as the site for a $1 billion assembly facility and software giant Oracle move its corporate headquarters to Austin.

Citing people familiar with the plans, Bloomberg news service reported that Samsung is considering spending more than $10 billion on the plant, which could be Samsung's most advanced yet. The report said that the final investment amount could fluctuate.

[...] According to the Bloomberg report, the new Samsung facility would be potentially capable of fabricating chips as advanced as 3 nanometers. Construction could start as early as this year, with major equipment added in 2022, and operations as early as 2023.

Also at Bloomberg, The Verge, and Notebookcheck.

Related: Washington in Talks with Chipmakers about Building U.S. Factories
TSMC Will Build a $12 Billion "5nm" Fab in Arizona

Original Submission

takyon writes:

TSMC reportedly stops taking orders from Huawei after new U.S. export controls

Taiwanese Semiconductor Manufacturing Co., the world's largest contract semiconductor maker, has stopped taking new orders from Huawei Technologies, one of its largest customers, according to the Nikkei Asian Review. The report said the decision was made to comply with new United States export controls, announced last Friday, that are meant to make it more difficult for Huawei to obtain chips produced using U.S. technology, including manufacturing equipment.

Huawei hits back at US as TSMC cuts off chip orders

Huawei rotating chairman Guo Ping has hit back at the US government's stricter export controls intended to stop the Chinese tech giant from obtaining essential chips, following reports that its biggest supplier has already cut it off. "We still haven't figured it out," Guo said on stage at Huawei's annual analyst summit. "The US government still persists in attacking Huawei, but what will that bring to the world?"

"In its relentless pursuit to tighten its stranglehold on our company, the US government has decided to proceed and completely ignore the concerns of many companies and industry associations," Huawei adds in an official statement. "This decision was arbitrary and pernicious, and threatens to undermine the entire industry worldwide. This new rule will impact the expansion, maintenance, and continuous operations of networks worth hundreds of billions of dollars that we have rolled out in more than 170 countries."

"We expect that our business will inevitably be affected," Huawei's statement continues. "We will try all we can to seek a solution."

See also: Huawei Braces for Latest U.S. Hit, but Some Say Loopholes Remain
TSMC Accepts US Kill Order & Suspends Future Huawei Contracts

Previously: U.S. Attempting to Restrict TSMC Sales to Huawei
Washington in Talks with Chipmakers about Building U.S. Factories
TSMC Will Build a $12 Billion "5nm" Fab in Arizona

Original Submission