TSMC will mass produce 2nm in the second half of the year, increasing 3nm production capacity by 60%

TSMC's supply chain revealed that benefiting from TSMC's continued expansion of capital expenditures and accelerated global expansion in Taiwan, the United States, Japan, and Germany, equipment and material related manufacturers such as Hongsu, Xinyun, Wanrun, Zhongsha, Shengyang Semiconductor, and Guangyang Science and Technology will gain significant growth momentum, further strengthening the overall competitiveness of the industry chain.

Zhang Zongsheng pointed out at a technology forum held by TSMC in Taiwan that the 3-nanometer family process has entered its third year of mass production, covering multiple technology versions such as N3E, N3P, N3X, etc., which is sufficient to meet the diverse product design needs of customers. It is expected that the overall 3-nanometer production capacity will grow by over 60% this year. Despite the complexity of the 3-nanometer process technology, the yield remains at a level comparable to that of the 5-nanometer process, and has even reached the quality standards of automotive chips. Relevant products have now begun to be shipped.

In terms of the 2-nanometer aspect, Zhang Zongsheng stated that TSMC adopts a new generation of nanosheet transistor architecture, and its initial yield performance is better than expected. It is expected to officially start mass production in the second half of this year and set up dedicated production lines in Baoshan, Hsinchu and Nanzi, Kaohsiung.

He further pointed out that with the rapid expansion of the AI chip market, TSMC's AI accelerator shipments continue to rise. Between 2021 and 2025, the overall AI chip shipments are expected to grow by 12 times, and the shipment of large-area chips highly related to AI will also grow by 8 times. In response to the explosive market demand, TSMC will significantly expand its production capacity this year, adding nine new factories, including eight wafer manufacturing plants and one advanced packaging plant.

In terms of global layout, Zhang Zongsheng mentioned that the Arizona plant in the United States had already started mass production of the 4-nanometer process at the end of last year, while the Kumamoto plant in Japan began production at the beginning of this year, with yield performance close to Taiwan standards; The construction of Kumamoto Second Factory has also begun; The Dresden plant in Germany is also progressing according to plan, focusing on special processes and working with European customers to establish a resilient supply chain system.

In terms of advanced packaging technology, Zhang Zongsheng stated that TSMC's 3D Fabric platform effectively solves the increasingly complex problems of chip design through a highly integrated technical architecture, and introduces AI automation technology to significantly improve yield. Among them, the packaging capacity of SOIC has doubled since 2022, and the annual growth rate of CoWoS packaging capacity is also as high as 80%. TSMC continues to expand its packaging factories in Taichung, Chiayi, Zhunan, Longtan, and Tainan to support the huge demand for AI and HPC applications, and plans to establish overseas packaging bases to further improve its global service layout.