TSMC 300mm capacity still in oversupply, 7nm expected to be fully booked in Q3 2019

Despite the ramp up of 7nm, Taiwanese foundry TSMC is still seeing underutilization of its 300mm fabs. DigiTimes writes sluggish demand for other advanced process nodes means 300mm fab capacity will remain in oversupply. Capacity on the 7nm node on the other hand is expected to hit the 100 percent mark in Q3 2019.

Major customers of TSMC's 7nm process include HiSilicon and AMD, as well as rumored names like Apple, Qualcomm, NVIDIA, and MediaTek.

TSMC has seen 7nm chip orders from Hisilicon and AMD ramp up substantially in the second quarter, but orders for other 12-inch fabrication processes remain slow due to continued inventory adjustments at many of its PC and consumer electronics clients, the sources indicated.

The recent surge in 7nm chip orders is driven by the upcoming roll-outs of new-generation chip designs for 5G and AI applications, said the sources. On the other hand, TSMC continues seeing its customers engaged in the mobile device, PC and notebook, and consumer electronics sectors digesting their excessive inventories, the sources noted.