TSMC’s 7nm Largest Share of Firm Revenue

TSMC Sees Strong 7nm Uptake

As we head into 2019, TSMC is set to lead the way with the latest process nodes. Along with Samsung, the company is leading the way forward with the new 7nm process. As silicon gets harder to manufacture, fewer customers are taking up the new nodes right away. Luckily, customers are still picking up 7nm quite widely. According to the latest report, the 7nm node is the biggest share of TSMC’s revenue.

Due to the silicon fab business model, TSMC runs a lot of process nodes in parallel. Since older nodes are a lot cheaper, some customers who aren’t cutting edge will opt for older ones. Think of things like your appliance controllers where size, performance and power consumption aren’t big concerns. As a result, new nodes which cost more and more each time tend to have a slow pickup. Future nodes will continue to see this trend expand.

Growth Expected to Continue in 2019

For TSMC it is a major milestone for 7nm to make up the biggest chunk of revenue. Over the course of 2018, 7nm hit 10% of all revenue and 23% for Q4. This is quite aggressive and looks like a lot of firms are willing to pay up get to 7nm quickly. As the industry settles in on 7nm as a major node, we should see numbers continue to rise for the rest of 2019. As the initial wave of first adopters tapers off, revenue may slow down. Still, the company expects over 20% of 2019 revenue will be from 7nm.

Due to their status as the biggest third-party fab, TSMC sets the trend for the industry. While 7nm is widely successful with major uptake from the likes of AMD and Apple, the company is looking forward. The company currently plans to bring the 5nm process node sometime in 2020 and 3nm after that. While some competitors like Samsung are also pushing strongly into 7nm, others like GlobalFoundries have given up. This may see TSMC become the dominant fab as Intel is currently lagging behind.