Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC) is likely to add two more advanced processes to its 16nm process portfolio in order to compete with the 14nm nodes to be released by Intel and Samsung Electronics, according to industry sources.
According to TSMC's original roadmap, the 16nm FinFET process is expected to enter trial production at the end of 2014. But TSMC now plans to release a 16nm FinFET+ process also at the end of 2014 and a more advanced 16nm FinFETprocess in 2015-2016, the sources noted.
The 16nm FinFET+ process is expected to enter volume production in early 2015 and may help TSMC win A9 processor orders from Apple, the sources indicated.
Some mobile fabless customers may directly adopt the 16nm FinFET+ process since it gives an additional die shrink, while migrating from 20nm, according to JP Morgan Securities.
The more advanced 16nm process is tentatively named as 16nm FinFET Turbo, the sources noted. | 