The Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing
Company (TSMC), tasked with making A8 chips for Apple's next iPhone,
confirmed a delayed start in the production of 20nm chip wafers. The
company spoke of a "specification issue" with the materials
used in its chemical-mechanical planarization process – smoothing
the wafers with chemical agents and mechanical forces. Well, said
issue has been resolved, and no shipments will be delayed.
Another bit of good news is that the
chip yield rate has been increased since TSMC began making 20nm
silicon in early 2014, and the production is moving ahead of
schedule. This means that Apple has already sorted out a significant
part of its chipset supplies for its next iPhone. Meanwhile, Samsung
will be completing the rest of the order in its Texas fab. The word
on the street is that Sammy is going to begin 20nm A8 production in
April.
TSMC expects to continue advancing its
manufacturing efficiency over the next quarters and have 20nm
products make up to 20% of its total 2014 revenue.
source: DigiTimes
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