Is this how much TSMC charges to make chips?

While a lot gets written about process technology, the price of having chips made by a foundry like TSMC is largely a secret. Twitter user RetiredEngineer published a chart that contains some information about TSMC's prices for various nodes, ranging from 90nm to cutting-edge 5nm.

As always, take this information with a grain of salt as we have no way to verify the accuracy. Furthermore, TSMC's pricing is unlikely to be uniform, with large clients like Apple having more power to negotiate better prices.

The "foundry sale price per chip" in the chart is based on a hypothetical 5nm GPU with specifications of NVIDIA's Tesla P100, so a chip of around 610mm². Overall the info is in-line with what we've been hearing for years. Smaller nodes are getting exponentially more expensive, but as TechPowerUp points out, the cost per transistor is still dropping.

For example, just compare the 10 nm wafer price of $5992 with the price of a 5 nm wafer which costs an amazing $16988. This is more than a 180% price increase in just three years, however, the cost per transistor is down as you get around 229% higher density in that period, making TSMC actually in line with Moore's Law.

Some info on TSMC wafer prices. (Not actual but rigorous estimates). pic.twitter.com/oaMryRco4I

— RetiredEngineer®, Gentleman and Scholar (@chiakokhua) September 17, 2020