TSMC's dilemma: Why are 7nm chips coldly received by customers?
In today's technology field, chip technology is undoubtedly one of the core driving forces. However, as the world's leading semiconductor manufacturer, TSMC has recently encountered a puzzling dilemma: its proud 7nm chip technology has been abandoned by many customers. This phenomenon has not only attracted widespread attention in the industry, but also triggered people's in-depth thinking about the future development trend of chip technology.
First of all, we need to understand the background of 7nm chip technology. 7nm chip technology refers to the minimum distance between transistors on a chip to reach 7 nanometers, and the emergence of this technology marks a new stage in the semiconductor manufacturing process. Compared with the previous 10nm, 14nm and other technologies, 7nm chips have significantly improved performance, power consumption and integration, and were once considered the mainstream direction of future chip technology.
However, it is such a seemingly promising technology, but it has met with a cold reception in the market. According to the financial report released by TSMC, the revenue proportion of its 7nm chips has shown a downward trend in recent years, while the revenue proportion of more advanced 5nm, 3nm and other technologies is rising. What is the reason behind this phenomenon?
First of all, from the perspective of market demand, with the continuous progress of science and technology, the application scenarios of chips are also expanding. However, for applications in different fields, the requirements for chip technology are also different. For example, in smartphones, GPUs, AI and other fields, due to the extremely high requirements for performance, power consumption and integration, more advanced technologies such as 5nm and 3nm are more inclined to be used. In the fields of automotive chips and driver chips, due to the greater emphasis on stability and reliability, the demand for mature processes is relatively high, while 7nm technology is a bit "high or low".
Secondly, from a cost-effectiveness perspective, 7nm technology is relatively expensive to manufacture. According to relevant data, migrating mature chips to 7nm process is not only costly for design, but also for foundry costs. This is undoubtedly a heavy burden for many businesses. Especially in the current global economic downturn, many companies are looking for ways to reduce costs and improve efficiency, so the demand for 7nm technology will naturally decrease accordingly.
In addition, as TSMC and other manufacturers continue to launch more advanced technologies such as 5nm and 3nm, the market position of 7nm technology has also been further impacted. These more advanced technologies have greater improvements in performance, power consumption, and integration to better meet market demands. As a result, many companies that originally intended to adopt 7nm technology have also begun to move to more advanced technologies.
To sum up, there are many reasons why TSMC's 7nm chips were abandoned by customers. From the perspective of market demand, cost-effectiveness and technology development trends, 7nm technology is facing considerable challenges. However, this does not mean that there is no future for 7nm technology. With the continuous advancement of technology and the continuous change of market demand, it is still possible for 7nm technology to find its place in some fields. For TSMC, how to maintain a leading position in the fierce market competition and continuously introduce new technologies that meet market demand will be the key to its future development.