Posted on Thursday, May 03 2012 @ 16:07 CEST by Thomas De Maesschalck
DigiTimes
heard rumors that TSMC is poised to get 20nm orders from Apple, even though the foundry is currently able to meet less than 70 percent of 28nm chip demand from Qualcomm, NVIDIA, Broadcom, TI and AMD at present. The source claims TSMC stands a good chance of receiving mobile CPU orders from Apple in 2014.
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company's (TSMC) plans to ramp up 20nm production ahead of schedule have prompted industry sources to speculate that the foundry will be aggressively striving for CPU orders for future Apple devices.
The present 28nm shortage at TSMC makes it more unlikely that the foundry could attract orders from Apple, the sources claimed. TSMC currently is unable to provide sufficient capacity to its existing 28nm customers, the sources said.
With orders placed by Qualcomm, Nvidia, Broadcom, TI and AMD, TSMC meets less than 70% of 28nm chip demand at present, the sources pointed out. While having tight supply of 28nm capacity, TSMC now hopes an early investment in 20nm technology will help the foundry engage in collaboration with potential clients such as Apple in advance and ensure enough capacity to meet demand, the sources indicated.
