News from Apple's chip manufacturer is good for the entire smartphone industry
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC) is the firm that turns chip designs from companies like Apple, Qualcomm, and Huawei into the actual components used inside smartphones. So when TSMC is the subject of good news, it's usually positive for the entire smartphone market. According to industry sources cited by Digitimes, the company is seeing orders pick up for chipsets produced using the most advanced technology currently possible. This is important because these chips are stuffed with more than a billion transistors.
The company's utilization rate for its most advanced chips most likely hit its low point for the year last quarter. But an increase in orders for 7nm chips from Android phone manufacturers not only bodes well for TSMC but for the smartphone industry as well. Right now, these chips include the top-of-the-line Qualcomm Snapdragon 855 Mobile Platform and the Kirin 980. The former is found powering expensive flagship models like the Samsung Galaxy S10, the LG G8 ThinQ, and other new top-shelf models due out over the year. The latter chip is found inside the soon to be launched Huawei P30 and P30 Pro. The fact that TSMC is receiving a bunch of orders for 7nm chips indicates that we could be looking at higher demand for the pricier smartphones in the marketplace.
TSMC is churning out 7nm CPU, GPU, and AI chips
Sources at top chip firms who design components for the smartphone industry say that besides rolling out 7nm CPUs, TSMC's advanced production lines are also manufacturing chips for graphics processing and Artifical Intelligence. And in the second half of this year, 7nm chips using extreme ultraviolet light to more precisely layout transistors will start shipping.
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