Shulou(Shulou.com)11/24 Report--

CTOnews.com, March 9, according to DigiTimes, according to sources, TSMC's fab utilization in the first quarter of 2023 is being dragged down by a rapid slowdown in orders for 7nm and 6nm chips, but its overall fab utilization can remain at 70 per cent or more.

According to sources, TSMC continues to improve the capacity utilization of its 3nm process technology and is expected to be close to 50 per cent by the end of March. The contract factory will also increase its process production to 50, 000 to 55, 000 tablets a month in March, with Apple as its main customer.

CTOnews.com has previously reported that Apple's upcoming iPhone 15 Pro model is expected to feature an A17 bionic processor, Apple's first iPhone chip based on TSMC's first-generation 3-nanometer process, also known as the N3E.

The first generation of 3-nm process is said to be 35% more power efficient than TSMC's 5-nm-based N4 manufacturing process, which is used to make iPhone 14 Pro and Pro Max A16 bionic chips. Compared with the chips currently manufactured on the 5nm process, N3 technology will also provide significant performance improvements.

Apple's next generation of 13-inch and 15-inch MacBook Air models are expected to be equipped with M3 chips, which may also be manufactured in a 3-nanometer process to further improve performance and energy efficiency. According to reports, Apple also plans to release an updated version of the 13-inch MacBook Pro with the M3 chip, the M2 chip and its higher-end Pro and Max versions are based on TSMC's second-generation 5nm process.

Orders from Nvidia and AMD for new AI processors, as well as Apple's new iPhone chips, are expected to help TSMC avoid a further decline in plant utilization in the second quarter, DigiTimes sources said.

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