TSMC will fire on all 7nm-making cylinders by the next half of 2019: new report

Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC) has reportedly indicated to DigiTimes that it anticipates a sizable uptick in the rate and volume at which it produces 7-nanometer (nm) SoCs soon. These chipsets are the current state of the art in processors for both PC and mobile devices. They can act as device CPUs, GPUS, NPUs and server-grade processors. 

TSMC is said to fulfil orders from companies such as AMD, MediaTek and HiSilicon (Huawei's proprietary chipset arm) to those effects this year. Accordingly, the chip-maker expects the fabrication processes it has devoted to 7nm production to be working at full capacity by 3Q2019. By contrast, 1Q2019 is associated with the least uptake of this technology.

In addition, the new, extreme ultaviolet lithography- (EUV) process to produce wafers of 7nm chips has been implemented at TSMC, as of the end of March 2019. Therefore, the firm's competitors in this market (e.g. Samsung and Intel) may be well advised to keep a close eye on TSMC in the future.