As with Samsung, TSMC faces the prospect of having to postpone its process production of 3nm to six months later than expected due to the lack of equipment created by recent factory closures.
Not only has mass production of wafers been postponed to 3nm, but the first tests scheduled for June and July have been delayed and will eventually begin in December. As a result, TSMC’s 3nm production is also expected to be postponed to 2022, as was the case with Samsung, so neither of them will enter the battle with a time advantage over their rival.
In the meantime, both companies will continue to offer their 5nm node, which is ready for release at any time. In fact, TSMC has already secured customers such as Apple, Qualcomm, and AMD for its 5nm node, so the initial production capacity is fully utilized and a good market share is assured even if the 3nm node is delayed.