Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co.. company better known by all with the name of TSMC has just announced that they are already in a position to go one step further in terms of the manufacture of new chips, specifically they are already talking about processes at 3 nm, which indicates that, with this evolution, they will once again be a clear benchmark within the sector.
However, this also has certain complications since working with this type of lithographs can be extremely complex and above all expensive, very very expensive. As an advance, tell you that building a new factory, which will undoubtedly be a benchmark within the chip manufacturing sector, according to TSMC's own estimates, will cost the company a not inconsiderable figure of 20.000 million.
As expected, this is the investment that TSMC will make but which, in turn, will mean a hard barrier to entry for all the company's rivals who want to work with this type of technology since, not only will they have to develop their work methodologies, but they will also have to carry out, whether or not they can, similar investments to rival and satisfy millions of users who will begin to claim this type of technology in their devices from all manufacturers, being TSMC, for the moment, the only one that can satisfy them.
TSMC becomes an absolute benchmark in terms of chip manufacturing ahead of powerful companies such as Samsung, Intel and even IBM
As a detail, tell you that if TSMC is famous for something against such tall rivals as IBM, Intel or Samsung, it is precisely because it is the responsible for the manufacture of the chips used by Apple in its mobile devices, without a doubt a piece of information that can help to better understand the reason for this investment since, by everyone, it is known that the company with the bitten apple usually generates many millions of benefits while pressuring its suppliers to enjoy of the best technology.
Returning to the new factory that the directors of the great TSMC will begin to build in the short term, tell you that, after some internal discussions, the company has finally been chosen southern taiwan for its location, thus discarding almost at a stroke different rumors that had arisen and that placed it in the United States.
Intel, the big loser in this frantic race
Intel it is precisely the company that seems to have suffered the most in this frantic race to get more and more transistors in the latest generation chips. Proof of what I say you have it in that until the end of 2014 Intel did not start offering 14nm chips, a generation that we all knew by the name of Core M and that succeeded the 22nm Haswells that had practically hit the market in 2013.
Curiously and despite the passage of all these years, Intel seems to be reluctant to move to 10nm chip production, something that has recently been confirmed seems to happen next year along with the arrival of the Intel Cannonlake. For its part, both Apple and Samsung already enjoy these 10nm chips in their higher-end devices such as the iPhone 8, iPhone 8 Plus and iPhone X by the American company or the Galaxy S8, Galaxy S8 Plus and Note 8 by the Korean company.
Finally, to mention again the terrible blow that TSMC has just given on the table in terms of chip production, if many companies have serious problems to continue this race, surely now you will understand better the fact that this company announces that will start manufacturing 3nm chips thus breaking all the forecasts as far as evolution is concerned Since, according to estimates, it was expected that 10 nm would go to 7 nm, then 5 nm to finally arrive at what TSMC announces that it will offer 3 nm chips in the very short term.