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But TSMC's Arizona plant will make 5nm chips in 2023, by which time 5nm wont be the leading-edge node - 3nm will be. It's nice to see some geodiversity however.
by pradn 6y ago
But TSMC's Arizona plant will make 5nm chips in 2023, by which time 5nm wont be the leading-edge node - 3nm will be. It's nice to see some geodiversity however.
In any case, TSMC is dependent on ASML, which has a monopoly on leading-edge EUV tech.
There is a decent amount of competition at older nodes, like > 40nm. So we'll still be able to make some chips if TSMC completely goes out of business, but obviously it wont scale to the demand and will seriously hamper business, science, and government.
- dnautics 6y agoI'm comparing against GP's suggestion "to build a fab". Point is, SMC and TSMC fabs will be online faster than a direct fab investment. > science I believe science has access to more compute than it needs. I could be wrong now, but last I checked, a few years ago, the huge computational clusters (both public and private, e.g. @ pharma companies) were under-utilized, especially on legacy-hardware-that-is-still-pretty-damn-good, and scrambling to find ways to engage with outside clients to fill out capacity.
- vasco 6y agoYou make it sound like anyone with the will can just take ASML product and create a leading fab. If that was the case Intel wouldn't be in the mess it is in.
- pradn 6y agoI'm not saying ASML -> cutting-edge capacity, but the opposite. Having cutting-edge capacity probably means you're dependent on ASML.
- UncleOxidant 6y agoThere will still be plenty of demand for 5nm chips in 2023. There will still be plenty of demand for 5nm chips in 2030 for that matter. Not everything uses the latest process node.
- pradn 6y agoYes, absolutely. Still, the point is that the factory will be useful, but not a panacea to the US's lack of cutting-edge chip-making prowess.