The world’s first 3nm chip has been born, surprisingly not led by TSMC, sparking heated discussions in the tech community.
Will TSMC’s dominant position in technology face its final chapter?
According to relevant media reports, Samsung’s fully wrapped gate 3nm chip has officially debuted.
As the first company to break the industry’s technological ceiling, Samsung Electronics is undoubtedly in high spirits.
The head of its chip business has boldly claimed that they aim to surpass TSMC within five years.
This ambitious statement undoubtedly adds fuel to the already fierce competition in the chip industry.
01.
According to Samsung’s official statement, this smallest chip in the world has already shown astonishing potential during the trial production phase.
With a product yield rate of up to 60%, Samsung has laid a solid foundation for subsequent mass production.
Investing 75.92 billion in R&D and utilizing GAA technology, Samsung has outpaced TSMC by 12 to 18 months.
It is understood that Samsung’s GAA transistor architecture is significantly superior to TSMC’s FinFET structure.
In terms of chip performance, compared to TSMC’s 5nm chip, overall performance has improved by 15%, with core computing speed significantly accelerated, allowing for smooth and efficient high-load operations.
At the same time, its computing performance is also 23% higher, enabling faster processing of complex tasks.
Additionally, it has reduced power consumption by 30%, greatly extending device battery life and providing a better user experience.
02.
In the context of increasingly fierce global technological competition, the rapid progress in the chip industry is not surprising.
After all, countries are putting in significant efforts in R&D to obtain more precise and high-end process chips.
Currently, relevant data shows that TSMC holds 53.6% of the global chip contracts.
Meanwhile, Samsung ranks second with a market share of 16.3%.
In this situation, it is surprising to many that TSMC, long regarded as the world’s leading chip foundry, has been left behind by Samsung in the 3nm era.
This situation has undoubtedly put pressure on TSMC.
Although TSMC still holds an “absolute” advantage in market share.
03.
So, why has TSMC been overtaken by Samsung Electronics in the 3nm era?
One reason is that TSMC responded to the U.S. government’s call to build factories in the U.S.
Since 2020, TSMC has accumulated investments in the U.S. totaling up to $65 billion.
What was supposed to be a bold financial move has unexpectedly turned into a “trap” set by the U.S.
Not only did they fail to receive the promised $20 billion subsidy from Biden, but they also have to worry about the huge labor costs.
Even more exaggerated is that TSMC has been in the U.S. for two years without producing any chips.
“Money spent, no results” is not an uncommon situation in the U.S.
The second reason is that TSMC, as a local enterprise in Taiwan, has supported Western policies and has been suppressing the Chinese chip industry.
As a chip giant that developed based on the mainland market, TSMC has surprisingly joined the Western Quad Alliance to please the U.S.
Now, not only has Huawei broken through the technological blockade, bringing back the Kirin 5G chip.
But Huawei has also partnered with research teams from the Chinese Academy of Sciences to bring advanced quantum chip technology.
Xiaomi has “quietly” increased its R&D efforts and recently successfully completed the tape-out phase of its 3nm chip.
In addition to companies making continuous efforts, Chinese universities are also not to be outdone.
Recently, a research team from Tsinghua University successfully developed the SSMB light source, which can replace or even surpass ASML’s EUV lithography technology.
Although these technological achievements still need some time to enter mass production.
However, once these technologies enter mass production, and the global market becomes further squeezed, TSMC may face the risk of bankruptcy!
What do you think about this?