TSMC is the largest independent foundry in the world as it attracts all of those companies that design chips but are fabless (which means that they have no production facilities). That includes Apple, which happens to be TSMC’s largest customer. And there is no question that TSMC takes care of its largest customer.
AMD is considering leaving TSMC and having Samsung Foundry manufacture its 3nm chips
Apple accounts for 53% of 5nm wafer shipments in 2021
A recent report says that TSMC is back on track for 3nm volume production to take place in the second half of 2022
According to Counterpoint, Apple this year will be responsible for 53% of the industry’s 5nm wafer shipments which gives it the clout that it wields over TSMC. Qualcomm is next with a 24% slice of the 5nm wafer pie. Only two foundries are currently able to manufacture chips using a 5nm process node with those two being TSMC and Samsung. If the latter has enough 3nm capacity to persuade AMD and Qualcomm to use its 3nm process node, Samsung Foundry could see a huge jump in revenue next year.
At one point, TSMC said that because of the complexity of 3nm, it would delay volume production by a year and there was speculation that the A16 Bionic and the iPhone 14 lineup would have to use 4nm or possibly even stick at the current 5nm process. But a recent report from Digitimes said that TSMC is back on track although at this stage anything is possible.
