TSMC's 3nm process revenue accounts for more than 20%! Apple, AMD, and Intel's three major customers frequently chase orders

Xinxi reported on March 28 that according to the British technology media The Register yesterday, the 3nm process revenue of the global chip manufacturing giant TSMC will account for more than 20% of the total revenue in 2024. TSMC's 3nm process has become the preferred node for global technology giants to launch their own new generation of processors, and has also become an important process to increase TSMC's revenue.

It is reported that companies such as AMD, Apple and Intel are investing a lot of money to support the development of TSMC's 3nm process. Before the 2nm process was officially put into mass production, TSMC's 3nm process, as one of the most cutting-edge semiconductor process technologies, has become a battleground.

1. The 3nm process was first applied to Apple, accounting for more than 20% of TSMC's annual revenue

TSMC's 3nm process was launched at the end of 2022 and is rapidly developing in 2023. Apple is currently the only company that uses TSMC's 3nm process to produce chips. Apple's latest iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 15 Pro Max are equipped with the A17 Pro using the basic version of TSMC's 3nm process, the N3B process, and the M3 chip that Apple will carry on the MacBook series in 2023 uses the undisclosed 3nm process.

Given that TSMC's upcoming 2nm process is scheduled to be put into production in 2025, the 3nm process will still be the company's most cutting-edge process, and Apple will most likely continue to use it. The rumored A18 mobile chip and M4 desktop chip will be manufactured using TSMC's 3nm process like the previous generation. However, this time Apple may choose a different 3nm process.

TSMC's fourth-quarter 2023 financial report shows that 15% of its revenue comes from the production of the 3nm process. The company has said that 3nm process production will continue to accelerate in 2024.

Xinzhixun quoted Taiwanese media as saying on the 26th that the revenue share of 3nm process will increase to 20% or more this year.

▲TSMC's fourth-quarter financial report (Source: TSMC)

Second, AMD and Intel joined the competition for 3nm orders

According to AMD's roadmap announced in 2022, AMD's upcoming Zen 5 processor in the middle of this year will also be on the 3nm process. However, the roadmap shows that in addition to the 3nm process, the Zen 5 will also use the 4nm process, which is the same 4nm process that AMD uses for its Phoenix APU.

▲AMD于Financial Analyst Day 2022公布处理器路线图（图源：CHIP）

AMD is rumored to be the only confirmed Zen 5 processor-based Strix Point APU to be launched on a 4nm process instead of a 3nm process. But it has not yet been determined.

At the very least, history shows that AMD's processors for servers and desktops will use state-of-the-art 3nm nodes. After all, Intel's upcoming Emerald Rapids processors and Arrow Lake processors will compete fiercely with AMD. AMD needs to keep its high-yielding Epyc Server processors as competitive as possible as well as its Zen 5 processors.

▲The German god MLID exposed the Intel Arrow Lake chip (source: Sina Highlights)

Intel is also expected to place a large order for 3nm chips this year. Intel's Meteor Lake GPU and integrated graphics modules are both manufactured in TSMC, and the upcoming Battlemage GPU, which includes integrated modules and integrated graphics modules, is also expected to be produced at TSMC, possibly on a 3nm process.

Intel's CPU modules may also be produced at TSMC. Meteor Lake processors currently use Intel's 7 process to produce compute modules, but rumor has it that the efficiency-focused Lunar Lake CPU modules will use TSMC's 3nm process to produce compute modules instead of the expected Intel 18A process. There are also rumors that Arrow Lake's computing module will also be manufactured using TSMC's 3nm process.

Of course, these are just rumors, and the last thing Intel wants to do is probably move chip production from its own fab to that of its main rivals.

There are many hard facts that show that 3nm technology is clearly on the rise. In TSMC's fourth-quarter revenue, 3nm accounted for 15%, while in the third quarter it accounted for only 6%, and the share more than doubled in the quarter.

This is mainly achieved through orders from Apple. Relying on Apple's chip orders alone, TSMC is likely to achieve a higher share than in the fourth quarter of last year.

Conclusion: 3nm revenue accounts for 6% to 15%, and the demand for cutting-edge chip manufacturing has increased steadily

Benefiting from the frequent order chasing by three major customers such as Apple, Intel and AMD, TSMC's 3nm order momentum is strong. The rapid rise of TSMC's 3nm process has greatly increased TSMC's revenue, from 6% in the third quarter of last year to 15% in the fourth quarter. With the support of the three major technology giants, TSMC's 3nm revenue will further break through. This also provides technical experience and financial support for TSMC to accelerate the update of its 3nm process and the research and development of the 2nm process.

TSMC President Wei Zhejia said at the TSMC Legal Conference on January 18 this year that he is optimistic about the development of the overall semiconductor industry this year, and it is expected that TSMC's revenue in 2024 will further increase driven by the demand for AI and high-performance computing.

来源：The Register