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What is interesting is the observation that cost-per-transistor is rising: "2018 was Apple’s last major step down in cost per transistor due to TSMC’s N10 to N
by chasil 5y ago
What is interesting is the observation that cost-per-transistor is rising:
"2018 was Apple’s last major step down in cost per transistor due to TSMC’s N10 to N7 process node shrink. With the transition from N7 to N5, the cost benefits were relatively small due to SRAM scaling issues. N7 is entering its 5th year of production, and N5 is now at its 3rd, yet the only hint of per wafer pricing changes have been in the wrong direction... Due to the way the 3 major DRAM companies have slowly increased output, cost per bit of DRAM has not really fallen."
Sophie Wilson (inventor of the original ARM instruction set) has been saying that cost-per-transistor has been rising for several years.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zX4ZNfvw1cw https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zX4ZNfvw1cw
- zozbot234 5y agoThat's not a new observation, as you mention. However as trailing-edge nodes improve and mature, their cost-per-area should still tend to drop over time. So, in a way, Moore's law might still be full effect despite developments "running ahead of it" at the leading nodes.
- dylan522p 5y agoSophie's analysis contemplates a set unit volume and fixed costs related to design and verification and tape out. Mine is on pure cost/transistor based on wafer costs as a player like Apple has the units to spread fixed costs over.
- chasil 5y agoThanks for the reply, and authoring the article. I've had several objections to previous comments that cost-per-transistor is rising, and I'm glad to see another confirmation.