TSMC seeing high demand for 28nm processes

DigiTimes has some updates about TSMC's 28nm processes. The foundry anticipates 2 percent of its revenues in Q4 2011 will come from 28nm processes, with output projected to top 20,000 wafers a month by the end of 2011. Clients of TSMC's 28nm process include Altera, AMD, NVIDIA, Qualcomm and Xilinx, while Broadcom, LSI Logic and STMicroelectronics are listed as potential clients.

TSMC is expected to see 28nm processes account for more than 2% of company revenues in the fourth quarter of 2011. The proportion will expand further to over 10% in 2012, as more available capacity coupled with rising customer demand boost the output, the sources indicated.

Wafer output using 28nm processes is projected to top 20,000 units a month by the end of 2011, and will expand significantly in 2012 when new capacity at Fab 15 comes online, the sources noted. Fab 15, TSMC's third 12-inch fab, will begin volume production in the first quarter of 2012, and ultimately raise its monthly capacity to the designed level of 100,000 wafers per month.

Altera, AMD, Nvidia, Qualcomm and Xilinx have all contracted TSMC to manufacture their 28nm products. Broadcom, LSI Logic and STMicroelectronics reportedly are among potential clients for TSMC's 28nm technology.