TSMC: 2nm chips will be put into production in 2025 and use GAA technology for the first time

During its first-quarter earnings call, TSMC reported that it is working full steam ahead on the development of next-generation process nodes. The semiconductor giant plans to have its first 3nm processes in production later this year and have 2nm ready by the end of 2025.

In this conference call, Bruce Lee, an analyst at Goldman Sachs, asked TSMC CEO CC Wei two questions. The first question was about inflation and the overall economy, and CC Wei replied that TSMC, as a leading global foundry, has the ability to cope with market fluctuations.

The second question asked about the timeline for the 2-nanometer node. Wei Zhejia said: "Our N2 development is ongoing. ... We are confident that N2 will continue to maintain our technological leadership and support customer growth. And we still plan to go into production in 2025. Pre-production will begin in 2024."

It is reported that TSMC first used GAA FET (all-around gate transistor) on N2, gradually replacing finFET (fin field effect transistor). Samsung has already started using their version of GAA, and Intel plans to implement their version in 2024. An analyst asked Wei Zhejia about this, but he avoided answering.

In the second half of this year, TSMC will put the N3 process into production. A year later, or possibly earlier, it will be ready to put the N3E process into production, an "enhanced performance, power, and yield" version of N3.

TSMC predicts that HPC (high performance computing) will be its fastest growing area this year. HPC generated 41% of revenue last quarter, just slightly higher than the 40% generated by smartphones. The Internet of Things and automotive ranked third and fourth, generating 8% and 5% of revenue respectively.