TSMC's 3nm process production lines booked through 2026: Apple, Qualcomm, NVIDIA, and AMD

Apple, AMD, NVIDIA, and Qualcomm have reportedly signed "major contracts" with TSMC, which has eaten up all of its 3nm family process production capacity... with a queue of customers spreading out all the way into 2026.

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In a new report from UDN, the outlet quotes industry insiders as saying that TSMC isn't a company that will increase its prices casually and that even if the company has a leading edge in advanced manufacturing processes (which it does, by far), there are "many ways to reflect value to customers."

TSMC has a huge 3nm family process, with N3, N3E, N3P as well as N3X, N3A, and more. Existing N3 technology continues to get upgraded, with N3E being mass-produced in Q4 2023, targeting applications like AI accelerators and AI GPUs, high-end smartphone chips, and data centers.

• Read more: TSMC's next-gen 3nm wafer cost are high: new CPUs, GPUs more expensive
• Read more: NVIDIA CEO flies to Taiwan, secures TSMC 3nm wafers for next-gen GPUs in 2024
• Read more: TSMC on 3nm : 3x silicon density over 7nm, 51% less power, 32% faster

TSMC's new N3P process will enter mass production in the second half of this year, which will enter mainstream applications, including smartphones, consumer products, base stations, and network communication devices in 2026. N3X and N3A nodes are customized for high-speed computing and automotive customers.

• Read more: TSMC gets 3nm orders from Apple, Intel and AMD: for iPhone 16, Lunar Lake CPUs and Zen 5 CPUs
• Read more: TSMC pumping out Apple 3nm orders: AMD, Intel, NVIDIA, Qualcomm, all on TSMC's 3nm in 2024
• Read more: NVIDIA's next-gen R100 AI GPU: TSMC 3nm with CoWoS-L packaging, next-gen HBM4 in Q4 2025
• Read more: AMD's next-gen Zen 6 APU codenamed 'Sound Wave' teased, made on TSMC 3nm node