TSMC has secured seven major customers for its upcoming 3 nm node

Full-scale mass production of the 3 nm node is not projected to begin until the second half of 2023, and TSMC will also begin their N3E later in 2023. 

Important customers for the 3 nm node besides Apple include AMD, Broadcom, Intel, MediaTek, NVIDIA, and Qualcomm. TSMC, the largest wafer foundry, has said the 3nm expansion will continue as planned despite reports to the contrary. Apple will be the first customer to use 3nm chips by the end of this year, and Intel will expand the use of 3nm chips in the second half of next year to produce processor chips. Super Micro, Huida, Qualcomm, MediaTek, Broadcom, etc. will complete the opening of new 3nm chips next year and the year after.

External environmental variables such as the Russian-Ukrainian war and global inflation have led to weak demand for consumer electronics such as smartphones and laptops, which may lead to a slowdown in demand for data centers and high-performance computing (HPC). The semiconductor production chain has excess inventory. Whether it can be eradicated in the first half of next year is uncertain, but downturns normally push chipmakers to speed up development.

With the progressive release of next-generation chip technology blueprints and the transfer to TSMC's 3nm process, TSMC is convinced that the 3nm family will become another large-scale process with long-term demand. Why? After TSMC's Fab 18B factory for 3-nanometer manufacture commenced mass production, the P7-P9 factories in the Fab 18 plant area were also built.

TSMC's sophisticated manufacturing process prioritizes Apple. Apple will use TSMC's 3nm wafers for the first time in the year's second half, say equipment makers and Apple's production chain. First up may be the M2 Pro, followed by the iPhone-specific A17 next year. TSMC's 3nm production will include M2 and M3 application processors. After Intel's processor adopts the chiplet design, the built-in graphics chip or computing chip will be mass-produced using TSMC's 3nm process in the second half of next year. Intel's GPU, FPGA, etc. will also use TSMC's 3nm chips in the next year and the year after.

Following AMD converts to the Zen 5 architecture next year and the year after, some devices will use TSMC's 3nm manufacturing process, according to the technological blueprint. Huida, MediaTek, Qualcomm, and Broadcom will also design 3nm chips and commence mass production after 2024.