Samsung's 3nm process appears to be finally gaining traction—it will soon be used in Samsung's own mobile chips, and there are also reports that AMD may begin adopting it as well. Meanwhile, TSMC's 3nm process is already so oversubscribed that customers are lining up, with supply reportedly fully booked through 2026, according to Taiwan's economic newspaper "Economic Daily News" (經濟日報).
TSMC's 3nm Process Becomes the Object of a Fierce Scramble
AI is now expanding its reach from PCs to smartphones, and processing power seems to never be enough—whether for on-device AI processing like the "Apple Intelligence" that Apple recently announced, or for the server expansions needed to support even more powerful AI.
Key players in chip design surrounding this AI boom—NVIDIA, Apple, AMD, and Qualcomm—already rely heavily on TSMC for manufacturing their in-house designed chips, and have successively adopted the cutting-edge 3nm process for their high-end chips.
However, TSMC's supply capacity appears to be straining under this massive demand. Production capacity for the 3nm process family for this year and next year has already been fully reserved by customers, and according to Economic Daily News, citing industry sources, demand may continue to outstrip supply at TSMC through 2026—two years from now.
Of course, in light of this situation, TSMC is planning to expand its production capacity. The company already plans to triple its production capacity this year compared to last year, but even that won't be enough to meet demand, so it appears the company will also convert some of its 5nm production equipment to enable 3nm process production. As a result of these measures, TSMC's total 3nm production capacity is expected to reach 180,000 wafers per month, up from 120,000 wafers per month.
TSMC itself has not yet taken a clear stance on price increases in response to this demand, stating only that "our pricing strategy is always strategic, not opportunistic. We will continue to work closely with our customers to deliver value." That said, it has also been pointed out that the shortage of 3nm supply could lead chipmakers to raise their own prices.
It's worth noting that this report does not include demand from external orders by Intel. Intel has revealed that it will use TSMC's 3nm "N3B" process for its next-generation mobile chip, "Lunar Lake." Depending on the level of demand from this, TSMC's supply situation could become even tighter.
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