TSMC may market enhanced 16nm node as 12nm process

As I have written a couple of times now, the name of a semiconductor process doesn't tell you a whole lot about its performance. One company's 14nm may be similar to another foundry's 10nm node, as these are all just marketing names.

TSMC illustrated the concept during its latest earnings call as the foundry confirmed the existence of a "12nm" node. Co-CEO C.C. Wei confirmed TSMC is continuining to enhance its 16nm technology and said its latest 16nm revision may be worth calling 12nm because this particular node will deliver significant enhancements in terms of density, classical density, performance and power consumption. This will be TSMC's fourth 16nm node.

On the call, TSMC Co-CEO C.C. Wei told analysts that its strategy is "continuously to improve every node in the performance, such as 28-nanometer." He went on to say that TSMC is "continuing to [improve] the 16-nanometers technology." Wei explained that its next revision of the 16nm technology may be worth calling 12nm because it will deliver improved "density, classical density, performance, and power consumption," according to a transcript by Seeking Alpha.

Via: Fool.com