TSMC revises growth outlook due to weaker crypto demand, is now doing 7nm volume production

TSMC revised its revenue growth forecast downwards. The Taiwanese foundry now anticipates a 5 to 9 percent growth in revenue, versus a previous estimate of 10 percent. The main reason for the adjustment is the weaker demand from the cryptocurrency mining market. There was a big boom in this segment but the crash of the market is resulting in a lot less demand for mining GPUs and ASICs.

Interestingly, TSMC also revealed it's now mass producing 7nm chips. Sales of 7nm products are anticipated to take up 10 percent of TSMC's third-quarter revenue, and 20 percent in the fourth quarter:

In addition, TSMC has entered volume production of 7nm chips. Sales generated from 7nm process technology will account for about 10% of the foundry's total revenues in the third quarter, and the proportion will climb further to 20% in the fourth quarter, according to Wei.

TSMC has started taping out chips built using an enhanced 7nm node with EUV in July, which is ahead of schedule, Wei noted. The company is scheduled to move the node to volume production in the second quarter of 2019, Wei said.

TSMC will see 7nm chip sales account for over 20% of its overall revenues in 2019, Wei indicated.

Tape outs of chips using TSMC's 5nm EUV process are anticipated in early 2019, with volume production currently slated for late 2019 or early 2020.

Via: DigiTimes