The competition in the chip manufacturing industry is like a marathon with no end, and whoever can take the lead in launching more advanced processes will be able to occupy an advantage in the market. Now, this marathon has ushered in a new climax - Samsung and TSMC, two chip foundry giants, are competing fiercely for the mass production of 2nm chips. Who can stand out in this battle and become the "first brother" in the chip foundry industry?
Let's take a look at Samsung's actions first. Samsung has invested heavily in plans to spend $17 billion in Taylor County, Texas, to build a new semiconductor manufacturing plant. This is no joke, the new factory is expected to start operations in the second half of 2024, and by 2026, Samsung's foundry capacity is expected to double. Samsung is also working on 3nm GAA technology, which reduces power consumption by 45%, improves performance by 23%, and shrinks the chip area by 16% compared to the 5nm process. This is not enough, Samsung's upcoming mass production of 2nm process will reduce power consumption by 50%, increase performance by 30%, and greatly reduce chip area by 35%. It seems that Samsung is determined to take a share of the chip foundry market!
TSMC is not a vegetarian. The chip foundry leader is also investing heavily, with the investment in the Arizona fab alone increasing to $40 billion, and it is expected to be able to mass-produce chips with 4nm process in the first half of 2025. TSMC also has big ambitions, with plans to build more factories in the United States, with a total investment of up to $65 billion. Not only that, TSMC has also cooperated with Japanese companies to invest in Japan's Advanced Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (JASM), and will start building a second wafer factory by the end of 2024, with a total investment of more than $20 billion, and is expected to be put into production by the end of 2027. At home, TSMC is not idle, planning to invest about NT$1 trillion (about 230 billion yuan) to build a second 2nm wafer factory, and also reserved land for the future 1nm factory. From 2024 to 2029, TSMC's expansion plans in Baoshan, Kaohsiung and Taichung have also been finalized, especially the production capacity of 2nm technology will be greatly increased.
When it comes to technology, TSMC's 3nm process has a 1.7-fold increase in logic density, an 11% increase in performance, and a 25%~30% reduction in power consumption under the same performance compared to 5nm. The 2nm process is even more advanced, with Gate Surround (GAA) transistor technology used for the first time, which increases speed by 15% and reduces power consumption by 30%. TSMC is working chip performance and energy efficiency.
Samsung and TSMC are competing to invest in the mass production of 2nm chips, which is also optimistic about the market prospects. With the rapid development of 5G, AI, high-performance computing, autonomous driving and other fields, the demand for high-performance and low-power chips will only increase. In particular, the AI chip market is expected to grow by 25.6% in 2024 to reach $67.1 billion, and by 2027 it will double to $119.4 billion. Who doesn't want a piece of this big pie?
Therefore, the mass production war of 2nm chips between Samsung and TSMC is not only a contest of technology and production capacity, but also a key step to seize the future market. Whoever can take the lead in launching 2nm chips will be able to occupy an advantage in the chip foundry market in the future. However, chip manufacturing is not an overnight thing, and it requires continuous R&D investment and technology accumulation. Samsung and TSMC, who can have the last laugh, we have to wait and see. But no matter what the outcome is, this war will promote the continuous progress of chip manufacturing technology and bring more powerful computing power support to various industries. We, as consumers, also benefit from faster and more power-efficient electronic devices. So, let's look forward to the arrival of 2nm chips together!