TSMC Beats Samsung In Securing 7nm Orders From Apple, Qualcomm & Others

Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC) is going to provide more than 40 clients including Apple and Qualcomm with its 7nm advanced process for chipsets this year. On the contrary, Samsung is still working to find potential customers for its 7nm chip production technology.

On Thursday, DigiTimes revealed that TSMC is enjoying a sure win over Samsung in their race of offering 7nm process to various manufacturers this 2018. The Taiwanese company has apparently outpaced the South Korean giant after securing orders from over 40 clients. This means TSMC would be fabricating numerous chips on its advanced 7nm process for mobile communication, high-performance computing and artificial intelligence applications for many companies this year.

Industry sources divulged that TSMC’s partnership with Apple would enable the foundry house to fabricate all of the Cupertino giant’s A12 processor chips on the 7nm process for the next-generation iPhones that are coming out later this year. This means the highly expected iPhone 11 would be sporting a 7nm processor when it launches.

According to Apple Insider, TSMC has been the exclusive manufacturer of Apple’s A-series chips for years. However, the Cupertino giant decided to split its chip orders between TSMC and Samsung for the iPhone 6 lineup. Recent rumors claimed that Samsung could be the sole chip supplier of the iPhone X successor. However, it is now confirmed that TSMC will be the sole producer of all A12 chips for all 2018 iPhones.

Following the successful launch of the iPhone 8/8 Plus and the 10th anniversary iPhone, Tim Cook’s company is now believed to be preparing three new handsets for this fall. Several sources are saying that Apple is developing two OLED models (5.8-inch and 6.5-inch) and one LCD model with a 6.1-inch display. The latter is expected to be the most affordable variant out of the three.

Meanwhile, to further secure its advantage over Samsung, TSMC is reportedly incorporating the extreme ultraviolet (EUV) technology into its 7nm process, while also stepping up its efforts in the completion of the facilities needed for its 5nm and 3nm processes. Trial run of the 5nm fab is scheduled to happen within the first half of 2019. On the other hand, TSMC is investing US$20 billion to build a 3nm park in 2020.

As for Samsung, it is still carrying out negotiations with U.S. and China customers. To broaden its foundry service deployments, the Galaxy Note 8 maker is making extensive contracts with potential clients from various fields. Samsung’s foundry officials have said that they are aspiring to grab a 25 percent share of the global foundry market in five years. This is an ambitious goal for Samsung, considering that it only has 10 percent share at present, while TSMC holds 60 percent of the global market share.