New information has recently been revealed about TSMC’s 3nm chip production yield. According to these sources, the percentage of usable chips created from a wafer is around 80%, which means that out of every 100 chips, 80 pass quality control. This percentage is very high and economically viable for TSMC. The high percentage of usable chips is especially important for TSMC’s customers, as wafers for 3nm chips are very expensive, with a price tag of $20,000, compared to $16,000 for wafers for 5nm chips.
Currently, only Apple has been able to acquire the first generation of 3nm production, known as N3 within TSMC. Apple has tied up 100% of this production, which means that the iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 15 Ultra will be the only smartphones to carry a 3nm SoC this year. The situation is expected to improve next year, when TSMC starts producing chips with its N3E process node during the second half of the year.
The N3E process node is cheaper and easier to manufacture than the N3 process, which means TSMC expects other customers, such as Intel, AMD, and Qualcomm, to jump into 3nm chip production by the end of the year. These companies are waiting for N3E because their profit comes from chip sales, so using a cheaper manufacturing process will allow them to offer better prices and higher profitability. On the other hand, Apple is the end user of its own chips, so it can play more with the price and increase its profitability.
In general, chips manufactured with the N3E process node will have faster clock speeds and consume less power than those manufactured with the N3 node. According to TSMC, the 3nm node (N3) will offer 15% higher performance and consume up to 35% less power than its 5nm node.