Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) plans to begin production with its A14 fabrication process in 2028, aiming to remain at the cutting edge of the chip industry.
The technology would advance the world’s biggest chipmaker beyond its current state-of-the-art 3-nanometer technology and the upcoming 2-nanometer process later this year. In a change of nomenclature, TSMC also plans an intermediary A16 chip process for late next year.
Taiwan’s most valuable company has kept up a steady pace of upgrades that has seen it corral Apple Inc and Nvidia Corp’s most lucrative chipmaking business.
Photo: REUTERS
The company plans about US$40 billion in capital expenditures this year, and its top executives have said its long-term plans are still geared to capture strong artificial intelligence (AI)-driven demand.
At a company event in California on Wednesday, executives laid out the new addition to TSMC’s road map, and detailed how it would help improve power efficiency and performance.
Deputy cochief operating officer Kevin Zhang (張曉強) said he sees an industry shift afoot: Where smartphone component makers used to be the first adopters of new production technology, the boom in AI has made designers of larger AI chips more willing to jump to the latest innovation sooner.
TSMC remains confident that overall demand for semiconductors would continue to rise and total industry revenue would “easily” exceed US$1 trillion by the end of the decade, Zhang said.
While that is a sales target the chip industry has largely embraced, investor anxiety about an AI bubble has grown in the past few weeks with the announcement of wide-ranging tariffs by the US.
A significant advancement from TSMC’s industry-leading 2-nanometer process technology, the A14 logic process technology is designed to drive AI transformation “by delivering faster computing and greater power efficiency,” the company said in a statement.
That is one of a slew of advanced technologies at its annual North America Technology Symposium in California, with a focus on its next-generation AI chips.
TSMC chairman C.C. Wei (魏哲家) hosted the opening ceremony in Santa Clara for the company’s flagship customer event of the year, which drew registrations from more than 2,500 attendees.
Additional reporting by CNA
SECURITY: As China is ‘reshaping’ Hong Kong’s population, Taiwan must raise the eligibility threshold for applications from Hong Kongers, Chiu Chui-cheng said When Hong Kong and Macau citizens apply for residency in Taiwan, it would be under a new category that includes a “national security observation period,” Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) Minister Chiu Chui-cheng (邱垂正) said yesterday. President William Lai (賴清德) on March 13 announced 17 strategies to counter China’s aggression toward Taiwan, including incorporating national security considerations into the review process for residency applications from Hong Kong and Macau citizens. The situation in Hong Kong is constantly changing, Chiu said to media yesterday on the sidelines of the Taipei Technology Run hosted by the Taipei Neihu Technology Park Development Association. With
CARROT AND STICK: While unrelenting in its military threats, China attracted nearly 40,000 Taiwanese to over 400 business events last year Nearly 40,000 Taiwanese last year joined industry events in China, such as conferences and trade fairs, supported by the Chinese government, a study showed yesterday, as Beijing ramps up a charm offensive toward Taipei alongside military pressure. China has long taken a carrot-and-stick approach to Taiwan, threatening it with the prospect of military action while reaching out to those it believes are amenable to Beijing’s point of view. Taiwanese security officials are wary of what they see as Beijing’s influence campaigns to sway public opinion after Taipei and Beijing gradually resumed travel links halted by the COVID-19 pandemic, but the scale of
A US Marine Corps regiment equipped with Naval Strike Missiles (NSM) is set to participate in the upcoming Balikatan 25 exercise in the Luzon Strait, marking the system’s first-ever deployment in the Philippines. US and Philippine officials have separately confirmed that the Navy Marine Expeditionary Ship Interdiction System (NMESIS) — the mobile launch platform for the Naval Strike Missile — would take part in the joint exercise. The missiles are being deployed to “a strategic first island chain chokepoint” in the waters between Taiwan proper and the Philippines, US-based Naval News reported. “The Luzon Strait and Bashi Channel represent a critical access
Pope Francis is be laid to rest on Saturday after lying in state for three days in St Peter’s Basilica, where the faithful are expected to flock to pay their respects to history’s first Latin American pontiff. The cardinals met yesterday in the Vatican’s synod hall to chart the next steps before a conclave begins to choose Francis’ successor, as condolences poured in from around the world. According to current norms, the conclave must begin between May 5 and 10. The cardinals set the funeral for Saturday at 10am in St Peter’s Square, to be celebrated by the dean of the College
RSS