Taiwanese semiconductor foundry corporations TSMC is reportedly planning to expand its 3-nanometer (nm; 1 nm = one billionth of a meter) process production line as sales of Apple's iPhone 17 series increase.
According to Taiwanese media including the Liberty Times on the 20th, TSMC recently received an additional order from Apple for 10,000 chips made with the 3-nanometer-class (N3P) process. It is due to strong sales of the iPhone 17 series, which was released in September. Citing sources, the Liberty Times said TSMC plans to expand its 3-nanometer process production line in response. The outlet also reported that thanks to strong iPhone 17 sales, iPhone sales in the China market last month rose 37% from a year earlier. Accordingly, Apple is said to have recently placed additional orders with TSMC totaling 30,000 3-nanometer chips.
Apple's additional order is reportedly to cope with rising demand for the "A19 Pro," its in-house mobile application processor (AP) installed in the iPhone 17 Pro and Pro Max. As a result, sources said TSMC's existing 3-nanometer process utilization rate has surpassed 100%.
TSMC will set up the 18A fab (semiconductor plant) in the Southern Taiwan Science Park by the end of this year. Sources said that even with this production line in place, supply will remain short, so TSMC will have to deploy the 3-nanometer process to the research and development (R&D) production line at the Hsinchu Science Park in the north to meet customer demand.
Another source also said that TSMC, not only for Apple but also due to increasing demand from the expansion of AI services, is moving to expand production facilities for 2-nanometer, 3-nanometer, and advanced packaging. The source added that Advanced Packaging Plant 7 (AP7), under construction in the Taipao area of Chiayi County; AP8, created by converting a factory of Innolux, a panel maker under Taiwan's Foxconn Group acquired last year; and Plant 2 (P2) of Fab 22 in the Nanzi Science Park in Kaohsiung are all scheduled to begin trial production starting next year.