With rumors of yield rates of 60% to 80% on its new 3 nm engraving fineness, TSMC has already won the race on this node against a Samsung whose process is more complex. Which highlights one of the superiorities of the Taiwanese against his Korean opponent.
The differences between the foundry services of Samsung and TSMC are legion, whether it is a question of the country of origin, the structure of the business, or even the technologies employed. But out of the box, the main and most fundamental difference is this: TSMC’s yields are incomparably better. While TSMC announced on December 29 the launch of mass production of 3 nm chips – that we imagine for Apple – this brand new manufacturing node would already show insolent results. According to information leaks not confirmed by TSMC (which, like the CIA, never denies or confirms!), the yields of this start of production of N3 (the “classic” 3 nm node) would oscillate between 60% and 80% good chips. For comparison – and again with numbers scavenged behind the scenes – Samsung’s EUV burning debut capped at a 20% rate of return. And the improvements would be small since.
How can we be sure of these numbers from under the cloak? By the band, that is to say by the results taken as a whole. While TSMC is in high demand and therefore more expensive than Samsung and while some players like Qualcomm or Nvidia have gone to Samsung to take advantage of better prices, everyone is coming back to TSMC. Whether it’s RTX4000 graphics chips, or Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 smartphone chips, almost all the chips you use on a daily basis in your smartphones, tablets, but also computers (if Apple or AMD chip), come from TSMC .
Read also: Nvidia announces the GeForce RTX 4090 and 4080: they explode in performance… and prices? (Sept. 2022)
Because the consumer electronics market requires the ability to quickly produce a lot of chips. Which is only possible when a maximum of good quality chips arrive at the end of the chain on the silicon wafers.
TSMC also dominates in efficiency
However, do not believe that TSMC only dominates by its good yields and the mass of cheaper produced chips. As we have seen, the services of the Taiwanese have a cost and it is rather Samsung which tries to pull prices down to attract customers. Because the Korean only picks up the crumbs: while TSMC already captures around 55% of the global semiconductor market, all nodes combined, this proportion rises to 90% (!) on advanced nodes. That is to say, chips engraved at 7 nm or less and whose production uses ASML’s extreme ultraviolet (EUV) machines.
Read also: Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 Plus: Qualcomm’s next high-end SoC would be engraved by TSMC (March 2022)
If customers around the world want to go to TSMC, it is also for the energy efficiency of the chips it produces. We saw it during the transition, traditionally unnoticed, between the Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 engraved by Samsung in 4 nm and the Snapdragon 8 Gen 1+ engraved by TSMC (N4). While the nodes were similar on paper, TSMC’s second chips were not only less power hungry, but also more adept at upscaling.
Returns above all else
The moral of the story might be the top priority on production techniques and yields over chip structure. While giants like Intel were cautious about EUV machines and preferred deep structural improvements, TSMC focused on the rapid industrialization of ASML machines to improve performance through finesse. And even if Samsung has launched the production of new GAAFET-type transistors in 3 nm, TSMC prefers to continue to push the limits of FinFET… Again for yields.
However, the limits of FinFET are obvious and the “wall” of miniaturization is approaching. If TSMC plans the launch of fine engraving in 2 nm from 2025, the horizon of 1 nm is more vague. The new transistor structures – whether in terms of their spatial conformation (GAAFET), or their way of being supplied with energy – are areas for improvement that will be necessary in the race for improvement. But the commercial success of their deployment depends on the perfect timing of introduction.
We feel here that what gives TSMC its advantage over the others is greater foresight. On the needs of its 500 customers and on the right moment to launch the industrialization of technologies. Far from being cautious, it was TSMC that first launched the production of chips below 7 nm with EUV scanners (steppers) from ASML. But like an Apple, the Taiwanese seems to know better than anyone the right time to deploy technology. That is to say the moment when it will be able to be deployed en masse. With maximum returns (and therefore cash) at stake.
Tom’s Hardware (US)
