TSMC to start production of 7nm chips in early 2018

Manufacturer TSMC will start producing chips at 7nm within two years. The Taiwanese processor maker has announced this. TSMC first takes the step to 10nm, before it starts producing on the even smaller process.

Mass production will begin in the first half of 2018, says TSMC co-director Mark Liu. The company already claims to be working with 20 customers on products based on 7nm chips. Which ones those are, the Taiwanese processor maker will not let go. TSMC does say that it mostly concerns customers in the mobile market. The company produces socs for Apple and MediaTek, among others.

The 7nm chips will be used in mobile GPUs, FPGAs, network processors and other consumer products, TSMC says. The step to 7nm means that the Taiwanese manufacturer will not stick to its 10nm process for long. It is working on that now, but the interest for it would be less than for the 7nm variant that is coming.