Items tagged with (nyse:tsm)
TSMC is celebrating the production of 1 billion defect-free chips manufactured on its 7-nanometer technology, or put another way, 1 billion functional 7nm chips. If laid out on the ground, that would be enough to cover 13 Manhattan city blocks, the semiconductor fab says. It also equates to over 1 quintillion transistors. "A remarkable achievement for a technology that entered volume production in April 2018. Since then, we have manufactured 7nm chips for well over 100 products from dozens of customers...TSMC’s large-scale, efficient manufacturing means more than just producing a lot of chips quickly. It is critical to improving quality and reliability, and the learning enables technology...
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In recent weeks, Intel has been sharing some additional details about its discrete GPU plans, especially during its Architecture Day 2020 event last week. From a consumer standpoint, one of the more interesting revelations is the slotting of a high-end Xe-HPG GPU optimized for gaming into the lineup, which is scheduled to arrive sometime next year. In addition to what Intel has shared publicly, there is a report that it will tap TSMC to build its Xe-HPG chips on a 6-nanometer manufacturing process. The only part about about manufacturing that is officially confirmed right now is that Intel plans to source its Xe-HPG GPUs from an external source, rather than fab them itself. However, Intel has...
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Seemingly out of left field, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC) revealed it is planning to crank out chips based on a 4-nanometer manufacturing process. Described as an "evolution" from its 5nm node, TSMC says it is currently in discussions with potential customers about leveraging the node, which fills the gap between 5nm and 3nm. There is not a whole lot of information available yet. That is because the folks at EE Times caught wind of the previously unannounced node ahead of an official unveling, and TSMC chairman Mark Liu subsequently confirmed to the outlet that 4nm is indeed in the works. However, he stopped well short of discussing the technology in detail. We assume a formal...
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Tensions between the United States government and China have proven a burden for Huawei, which at one point had aspirations of selling its products on domestic soil in stores like Best Buy and wireless outlets like AT&T. Those plans were crushed, and the challenges keep mounting. The latest development has the US government effectively barring TSMC from supplying semiconductors to Huawei. This comes by way of an amendment to the Entity List, which outlines specific license requirements and rules for exporting goods. According to the Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS), Huawei has been trying to undermine US export controls, and the amendment addresses its concerns by restricting the Chinese...
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The rumblings turned out to be true—Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC) has confirmed plans to build and operate another chip manufacturing plant in the United States, and specifically in Arizona. TSMC said it the made the decision with the understanding that it would receive support from the US government and Arizona officials. "TSMC welcomes continued strong partnership with the U.S. administration and the State of Arizona on this project. This project will require significant capital and technology investments from TSMC. The strong investment climate in the United States, and its talented workforce make this and future investments in the U.S. attractive to TSMC," the chip...
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There is reason to be optimistic AMD will deliver its next-generation Zen 3 processors on schedule. AMD's manufacturing partner, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC), says it has begun mass producing chips based on its 7-nanometer plus (7nm+) Extreme Ultraviolet (EUV) lithography technology. TSMC did not mention AMD by name, only that it is "delivering customer products to market in high volume." However, AMD has already confirmed its Zen 3 processors will be manufactured on a 7nm+ node, and said it August the design phase had been completed. At the time, AMD also stated the anticipated roll out of Zen 3 processors next year is "right on track." For TSMC, this 7nm+ node is its first...
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Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC) is countersuing rival semiconductor manufacturer GlobalFoundries, alleging several instances of patent infringement related to the company's 40-nanometer, 28-nanometer, 22-nanometer, 14-nanometer, and 12-nanometer process nodes. As part of the lawsuit, TSMC is seeking "substantial monetary damages." The lawsuit appears to be in retaliation to multiple lawsuits GlobalFoundries filed in the US and Germany back on August 26. In its complaints, GlobalFoundries accused TSMC of infringing on 16 of its patents related to its 28nm, 16nm, 12nm, 10nm, and its most recent 7nm production lines. GlobalFoundries asked for an injunction on certain products that...
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If you own an Android phone, there is a high chance it is rocking a Qualcomm Snapdragon processor of some kind inside. Sometime in the not-too-distant future, Qualcomm will unleash a new flagship SoC, the Snapdragon 865, yet there is already talk of what comes after. That would be the Snapdragon 875, assuming Qualcomm sticks to its conventional naming scheme. Based on a recent leak, the Snapdragon 865 is shaping up to be a worthy successor to the current-generation Snapdragon 855 (and 855 Plus). Codename "Kona," a recent entry in Geekbench's database shows the Snapdragon 865 benefiting from a healthy boost in single-threaded performance, and posting gains in multi-threaded workloads. According...
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TSMC generated $7.75 billion in revenue during the second quarter of 2019, which is down 1.4 percent year-over-year but up 9.2 percent from the previous quarter. In a subsequent conference call with investors, TSMC talked about powering through softening economic conditions, and what the future holds in regards to 5-nanometer (nm) and 3nm process nodes. Referred to by TSMC as N5 and N3, the company is currently busy churning out N7 (or 7nm) silicon, as featured in AMD's third-generation Ryzen processors. AMD has also moved to a 7nm node for its newest generation Navi GPUs and is doing rather well for itself, with a gigantic assist from TSMC on the manufacturing front. Looking ahead, TSMC anticipates...
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In just a few weeks, AMD is expected to roll out its new Ryzen 3000 series of CPUs based on its Zen 2 architecture. These new parts are being built by Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC) on a 7-nanometer node. Looking ahead, however, TSMC is already talking about 6nm and even 5nm, the latter of which will bring improved logic density by 1.8X over 7nm, the company says. TSMC talked a little bit about its 5nm manufacturing process during a recent earnings call with investors. The company said its 5nm development is "well on track," having entered a phase called "risk production" in the first quarter. It expects a "tape out" in the first half of 2020. That is when designs by clients...
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AMD is going all-in on 7-nanometer manufacturing for both its CPUs and GPUs, and it doesn't look like the company will have to worry about low inventories. Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC) has reportedly seen a reduction in 7nm orders from Apple, HiSilicon, and Qualcomm, and subsequently will not be operating at full capacity on its 7nm assembly lines. Looking ahead, AMD has its Zen 2 processor and Navi GPU architectures around the bend, both of which are being built on a 7nm manufacturing process. It's important to note that AMD does not build the actual chips—it's a fabless outfit that designs the silicon, and then has companies like TSMC and GlobalFoundries produce the...
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Tawian Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. (TSMC) is recovering from a major internal computer virus outbreak that ravaged its systems, forcing the chipmaker to shut down several factories. A full recovery is expected by Monday, August 6, however the fallout from the virus will result in shipment delays and additional costs, the company said. The virus affected TSMC's computer systems and fabrication tools in Taiwan. TSMC attributed the outbreak to a some sort of misoperation when installing software for a new tool, though the company did not go into specifics. Once the virus tool went online, it spread throughout TSMC's computer network, affecting other systems. "Data integrity and confidential...
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Reports coming out of China indicate that Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC) has inked deals with NVIDIA and Qualcomm to produce high performance computing (HPC) chips that will be used for artificial intelligence applications, among other things. That includes the fabrication of NVIDIA's next-generation Volta GPUs using a 12-nanometer FinFET manufacturing process. Rumors had surfaced in January that NVIDIA had tapped TSMC to build its Volta GPUs, and assuming the new reports are accurate, it would appear that contract negotiations have been finalized. TSMC certainly has the capacity. It is the world's largest foundry company, accounting for 60 percent of the global foundry market....
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ARM and TSMC have become quite the duo over the years, combining the latter's cutting-edge process technologies with the former's processor IP. It is a partnership that has been working, hence why the two committed earlier this year to collaborating on a marketable 7nm FinFET chip. The fruits of their efforts have paid off—ARM announced today that it has licensed its Artisan physical IP platform for TSMC's 7nm FinFET process technology to Xilinx, the fabless semiconductor company known for inventing the field programmable gate array (FPGA). Xilinx isn't a new customer by any means. It has partnered with ARM for four process technology generations and has worked with both companies to advance...
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It recently came to light that the custom A9 processor Apple is using in its iPhone 6s and iPhone 6s Plus handsets is being dual sourced from Samsung and TSMC. If that's the case, does it matter which one you get? There's evidence to suggest that it does, both in terms of raw performance and battery life.Before we get into that, let's back up a moment and look at each chip. According to the folks at Chipworks, Samsung is likely using a 14nm manufacturing process resulting in a die size that's about 10 percent smaller than the one being produced by TSMC, which is believed to be using a 16nm FinFET process."From a benchmarking point of view, the smaller die size shows a leadership in technology...
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