Tag Archives: TSMC

Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. is on-track to start volume production of chips in the first quarter of 2015, according to a media report. The first client to order 16nm chips from TSMC is expected to be Apple, which is a little bit surprising. TSMC has been making test chips using …

Although there are rumours that Advanced Micro Devices and Nvidia Corp. are not really happy with 20nm process technology of Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co., they will inevitably have to use it. A vice president of AMD said last week that the company’s 20nm chips would be out next year. “20nm …

Fujitsu Limited and United Microelectronics Corp. plan to form a joint venture that will operate Fujitsu’s semiconductor manufacturing complex in Mie prefecture in Japan. While initially Fujitsu will hold the control stake of the new company, it is going to gradually reduce it. The Japanese conglomerate has been winding down …

Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. said this week that it had begun to ship the first wafers processed using its 20nm fabrication technology to customers. The company began mass production of chips using 20nm manufacturing process in early January, the first commercial wafers were shipped to undisclosed customers in June. The …

In a bid to retain its leadership position on the market of contract semiconductor manufacturing, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. is reportedly accelerating development of its 10nm FinFET process technology. At present TSMC is the leading contract maker of chips produced using 28nm process technology. It is believed that the company makes considerably …

The exact plans of Advanced Micro Devices and Nvidia Corp. concerning the 20nm process technology from Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. have never been publicly revealed and are not completely clear at this point. One of the reasons for that are low manufacturing yields, which forces fabless semiconductor designers to reconsider …

Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corp. (SMIC), a China-based contract maker of chips, and Qualcomm on Thursday announced that SMIC will produce Qualcomm’s Snapdragon system-on-chips for mobile devices using 28nm process technology in China. The move will help Qualcomm to boost production of its advanced SoCs and lower their manufacturing costs. As …

A Chinese web-site on Wednesday published images of an unknown Nvidia graphics card that carries a chip that is only several weeks old. It is believed that the graphics adapter is based on the code-named GM104/GM204 graphics processing unit powered by the Maxwell architecture. The graphics board is expected to become commercially …

In a bid to better compete against Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. Samsung Semiconductor and GlobalFoundries earlier this year agreed to unify one of their 14nm process technologies and offer their foundry services collaboratively. Apparently, the tactics has worked out and the two companies recently landed orders to make chips using the …

GlobalFoundries, one of the world’s top contract makers of semiconductors, said this week it will upgrade one of its 200mm semiconductor production facilities in Singapore. The move will help the company to expand production capacities and increase output of chips made using advanced fabrication technologies. Although GlobalFoundries is one of …

There is a rumour that Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. experiences yield issues with its 20nm process technology, which has forced companies like AMD, Nvidia, Qualcomm and others to delay the ramp up of their 20nm designs. It is unknown whether the rumours are true, but KnC Miner, a developer of …

Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. has extended lead time for production of chips using 28nm process technology from ten to 16 weeks recently, a media report reads. The company reportedly claimed that the demand for 28nm manufacturing process is very high and therefore orders placed in May would take more time …

Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. this week unveiled an improved version of its 16nm FinFET process technology that will hit volume production in 2015. In addition, the company revealed some details regarding its 10nm FinFET fabrication process and said that it would start risk production using the technology in Q4 2015, …

Intel Corp. has been offering application processors for smartphones and tablets for several years now, but none of those chips featured integrated baseband capabilities, which is why the company was unable to address the mass market of mobile devices. However, this is going to change in the fourth quarter of …

Advanced Micro Devices on Wednesday announced plans to slightly boost its purchase commitment from GlobalFoundries by around $50 million this year compared to last year. As part of the agreement, the contract maker of chips will manufacture not only its traditional central processing units (CPUs) and accelerated processing units (APUs) …

Early last year Intel Corp. demonstrated the world’s first fully-patterned 450mm wafers and in mid-2013 started to construct D1X module 2 fab, which is supposed to act as a primary development facility for virtually all of Intel’s 450mm initiatives. It was expected that commercial production of chips on 450mm wafers …

Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. recently started to produce Apple’s next-generation A8 system-on-chips for upcoming iPhones and iPads, according to media reports. However, according to another report, the Cupertino, California-based consumer electronics giant could face difficulties with the A8 because of relatively low production yields. A number of Taiwan-based media outlets …

IBM has reportedly started to search for a buyer for its semiconductor manufacturing business. While the move itself seems like a milestone for the whole industry, the potential transaction will not have a huge impact on the market since IBM is not a leading maker of chips. Moreover, chips today …

Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. on Thursday said it had begun mass production of chips using 20nm process technology ahead of its own schedule. The new fabrication process will help fabless chip designers (e.g., AMD, Nvidia, Qualcomm, etc.) to create processors with higher transistor count, lower power consumption and improved performance. …

In an unexpected move, GlobalFoundries, one of the world’s largest contract maker of semiconductors, appointed a new chief executive officer on Monday. Sanjay Jha, a well-respected technology executive who served as CEO of Motorola Mobility and in numerous leadership roles with Qualcomm, will now head GlobalFoundries. Sanjay Jha will lead …

If you thought the recent and continuing patent struggles between Samsung and Apple were anything to go by, the strained relationship has spread much further than the companies' mobile divisions. Apple has depended upon Samsung for many components in its various iDevices but it appears that will change with the …

Still smarting from having to pay Apple over $1 Billion because it stole design ideas, Samsung has agreed to outlay around half that amount again to pick up 3% of Dutch photolithography firm ASML. It's nice to get something tangible for your money. KitGuru does a quick check on who …

One of the most dedicated chases in the IT industry is the one that Intel, nVidia and AMD engage in when it comes to process shrinkage. Indeed, with its vast array of fabrication plants, Intel's entire mantra is based on the idea of Tick-Tock: Shrinking a known technology, before inventing …

Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC), the producer of many chips (the non-potato variety) that we love to enjoy and abuse daily has told media that its 28nm foundry will fail to meet demand until next year. This will effect the supply of newer products from AMD, NVIDIA and Qualcomm. Right …

If you are in the hunt for NVIDIA's latest and greatest Gefore GTX 680, chances are you either managed to grab one out of pure luck or have given up completely. As of writing, Newegg does not have a single GTX 680 in stock. Even one of the largest PC stores down …

There are several things that affect the overall performance of a processor-based device. You can look for bottlenecks in the data transfer and try to improve them or get the internals of the chip itself to do more work per clock cycle. While balance is important, almost nothing can beat …

While the big blue juggernaut continues to plow forward with yet another full range of high-end processors, AMD is looking to regroup around a different manufacturing model. With rumour set to become reality any time soon, KitGuru dons a bee keeper outfit and skirts around a Taiwanese FAB. Take any …

We're not sure why TSMC likes to call its production facilities ‘GigaFabs', but it does. The ground has now been ceremoniously broken for the expansion of GigaFab 14 and the race to open the new plant begins. KitGuru dons a protective helmet and adjusts its tool. Fresh from the success …

If you service cars and don't have enough of the right tyres, then it can affect production. Same for decorators and the right kind of paint brush. Sure, there could be ways around the supply issue, but it's not ideal. With graphics, it comes down to wafers. KitGuru pulls out …

It's been a slow time for graphics recently. Both AMD and nVidia have good products in the market. And that market, overall, has not been strong. Against that backdrop, the pace of innovation has slowed right down. But the next 6 months looks like it will be busier. KitGuru loads …