TSMC is one of the most respected processors' builders in the world. Apple is just one of the companies that delegate the production of its SoCs to the company based in Taiwan. Needless to say, Samsung is the world's largest semiconductor manufacturer and manufactures, for example, Qualcomm's powerful Snapdragon.
As I said, the task of building the Apple Ax processors is delegated to third parties. As an example, the Aion Bionic, present in the new iPhone 8, 8 Plus and iPhone X was produced by TSMC. However, in past occasions, also rival Samsung had this charge.
With the arrival of a new year, new equipment is on the way and consequently the development of a new processor. By 2018, Samsung and TSMC were in the race for the development of the new A12. Now, according to information provided by Digitimes, Apple will have delegated this task to TSMC, thus leaving Samsung in the process.
The reason for this decision from Apple is that TSMC has beaten Samsung in developing processors based on 7nm lithography. It is recalled that the new Exynos 9810 and Snapdragon 845, both built by Samsung, are being developed in 10nm lithography.
Apple prefers TSMC than Samsung because of the 7nm lithography process
Therefore, it will be possible to incorporate a larger number of transistors in the same physical space. The end result of all these modifications is a more powerful and yet more efficient processor.In order for you to realize the main difference between these processes of manufacturing of processors, it is necessary to explain what is this of lithography. In a very simple way, the smaller the lithography used, the smaller the actual size of the processor transistors.
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Therefore, the Cupertino giant will have opted for TSMC for the development of its next processors. Obviously, the company led by Tim Cook wants them to be more powerful and efficient than the current A11 Bionic. Since Samsung is not yet able to use this lithography, the choice seems to be clear.
This technological breakthrough will have Taiwanese orders from 40 customers to produce processors in 7nm lithography. Their identity is not yet known, but the future looks laughable to TSMC.
Speaking in the future, TSMC seems to already have plans to further attack this market segment with the development of processors in 5nm and 3nm. To do so, the company is already building a new factory that will allow it to try the 5nm process in the first half of 2019. For the following year, that same factory should be able to produce in 3nm.
TSMC! This is my first time of hearing about it, and they suprisingly attack them outta nowhere... Wow! Nice info
ReplyDeleteTSMC wins the race.. Nice info.. Every brand are now competating. Cool! Thanks.
ReplyDeleteCompetition everywhere but that fosters the growth of technology.
ReplyDeleteThanks.