TSMC's 5nm process, Bitmain is its major customer

On September 23, according to the Taiwan Economic Daily, TSMC's 5nm process has won five major basic customers: Apple, HiSilicon, AMD, Bitmain and Xilinx, and has decided to expand its monthly production capacity from the original 51,000 pieces to 70,000 pieces, and the mass production time will be advanced to March next year.

This year, Apple's A13 chip rarely uses TSMC's latest 7nm EUV process. However, industry insiders recently pointed out that the iPhone 11 series phones equipped with this chip have just gone on sale, and the A14 chip has already been taped out at TSMC's Central Science Park plant using the 5nm EUV process.

The Kirin 990 5G version recently launched by Huawei HiSilicon is powered by TSMC's 7nm EUV. It is understood that TSMC's 5nm full mask tape-out costs about 300 million yuan, and the cost does not include IP licensing. With its strong financial strength and high pursuit of advanced technology, Huawei will definitely be the first to try 5nm.

Regarding the other three 5nm customers, Bitmain is looking to attack the AI ​​field. Coupled with the rebound in Bitcoin prices this year, TSMC's 5nm process will be a strong driving force for the company's future performance growth.

AMD has cooperated with TSMC on 7nm this year, and its CPU and GPU sales have been very good, forcing Nvidia, which was not very interested in 7nm, to quickly follow suit. AMD, which has tasted the sweetness, will further follow TSMC's advanced technology and place an order for 5nm EUV.

In addition, Xilinx, a supplier of programmable logic devices (FPGAs) that continues to shine in the field of AI special application chips, also continues to advance towards 5nm, and the demand for TSMC's 5nm process has exceeded expectations.

It was originally thought that the 300 million yuan tape-out fee would be a high threshold for TSMC's 5nm process, but now it seems that major customers will follow up decisively. Given that Nvidia is behind in the 7nm process this year, it is not ruled out that it will seek to "fight back" and grab TSMC's 5nm process next year.

However, if multiple parties place orders simultaneously, TSMC's production capacity may be a problem. Samsung's 5nm 5LPE is also scheduled to be mass-produced in the first half of next year, and may usher in orders. What is the order situation of both sides? Jiwei.com will continue to follow up and report.