Taipei, Dec. 16 (CNA) An advanced 2 nanometer process wafer fab currently being built by contract chipmaker Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. (TSMC) in the Baoshan section of Hsinchu Science Park, is scheduled to install production equipment in April 2024, according to the park administration.
Speaking with reporters, Hsinchu Science Park Bureau Director-General Wayne Wang (王永壯) said Friday that construction of the two plants that make up TSMC's 2nm process fab and infrastructure, in the second phase of the Baoshan section, has been proceeding smoothly, and installation of production equipment at the first plant is slated for April.
The 2nm process is the next generation following the 3nm process, the last technology TSMC began mass production with at the end of last year, and the installation of production equipment will pave the path for commercial production in 2025.
TSMC inaugurated a research and development center in the first phase of the Baoshan section in late July, which serves as the new home for the chipmaker's R&D Organization, including researchers who will develop its leading-edge process technology at the 2nm generation level and beyond.
On Wednesday, TSMC Chairman Mark Liu (劉德音) said its clients prioritize quality above pricing in response to reports that rival Samsung Electronics Co. is cutting prices to seize a larger share of the future market for chips using the 2nm process.
"(TSMC) clients always focus on product quality," Liu said Wednesday when asked on the sidelines of a government technology advisory conference to comment on Samsung's reported price-cutting strategy.
Liu was clearly implying that TSMC, the world's largest contract chipmaker with a nearly 60 percent market share, can offer better quality products than its rivals amid escalating competition, including from Samsung.
Citing sources close to Samsung, the Financial Times reported earlier this week that the South Korean chipmaker, which has also scheduled production of chips made on the 2nm process for 2025, was offering cut-price versions of its latest 2nm prototypes to attract the interest of big-name customers such as AI chip designer Nvidia Corp.
The Financial Times reported that U.S.-based smartphone IC designer Qualcomm Inc. already intends to shift production of its next-generation high-end mobile chips from TSMC to Samsung's 2nm process.
TSMC said on Friday that the development of the 2nm process is proceeding very well.
The chipmaker has also planned 2nm process production in Kaohsiung, but so far disclosed no other details about the Kaohsiung plan.
Beyond the 2nm process, TSMC is developing the 1.4nm process to maintain the company's lead over its peers in high-end technologies. TSMC said Friday that the 1.4nm process has been named "A14."
On Tuesday, Taichung Mayor Lu Shiow-yen (盧秀燕) told a hearing held by the Taichung City Council that TSMC will build a fab in the Central Taiwan Science Park, using the technology more advanced than the 2nm process, though the chipmaker has never confirmed where the 1.4nm complex will be located.
It was initially thought TSMC would locate the new 1.4nm process factory in the Longtan section of Hsinchu Science Park after the park bureau announced in December 2022 that it would do so, though TSMC itself never commented on the announcement.
The fab was to be located on a 158.59-hectare parcel of land that was part of the third expansion phase of the Longtan park that had yet to be expropriated for science park use but was considered feasible for the project after a bureau assessment in mid-November 2022.
However, in October 2023, TSMC announced it had abandoned the Longtan plan amid strong opposition from many of the residents who would be affected by the proposed land expropriation.
Market analysts expect TSMC to begin mass production of the 1.4nm process in 2027-2028.
