Apple supplier TSMC is “struggling” to produce enough of its new 3-nanometer chips to meet demand for upcoming Apple devices, according to a report from Apple. ee times. Analysts believe that TSMC is having issues with tooling and performance, affecting the increase in volume production of the new chip technology.
TSMC is making the 3nm A17 chips that are expected to be used in the iPhone 15 Pro models, and is working on the Mac series “M3” chips that are also expected to be built on the 3nm process. Brett Simpson, an analyst at Arete Research, said ee times which estimates TSMC’s returns for the A17 and M3 processors to be about 55 percent, which is appropriate for TSMC’s stage of development. “TSMC seems to be in time to boost returns by more than 5 points each quarter,” he said.
Last week, TSMC CEO CC Wei said that while the company has achieved “high-volume production with good performance”, customer demand exceeds its supply capacity. During the second half of the year, TSMC will ramp up production of A17 and M3 chips for Apple, while also working on chips for Intel, AMD, and Nvidia.
TSMC’s 3nm chip technology is cutting edge and is the only company other than Samsung that can manufacture chips in a 3nm process. Compared to the current 4nm process used for Apple’s iPhone 14 Pro chips, the 3nm process brings improvements in both speed and efficiency.
Once 3nm production is well established, TSMC will move to 2nm. TSMC is expected to start production on the 2nm node in 2025.
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