TSMC is increasing its production of 12-inch wafers used to manufacture 16-nanometer chips, in order to cope with major upcoming chip orders, according to reports. Seemingly in preparation for higher production rates for the "A10" processor, a chip believed to be used in the next generation of iOS devices, the company is aiming to produce 80,000 of the wafers by the end of this month, double the 40,000 output it achieved in February.
According to the Chinese-language
Economic Daily News,
via DigiTimes, market analysts are anticipating the ramping up of production will increase TSMC's sales performance for this month. Co-CEO CC Wei told investors at a recent meeting the company's 14nm and 16nm foundry market segment will increase past 70 percent this year, up from around 40 percent last year, with its 16nm FinFET processes believed to generate more than 20 percent of total wafer revenues for this year.
While the reports do not directly suggest the increased production is in response to Apple's usual device upgrades, with other companies including Nvidia, MediaTek, and HiSilicon also said to be among its major 16nm customers, Apple at least seems to be the most likely candidate for increased orders. Previous reports claimed TSMC was building a new
manufacturing facility in China worth approximately $3 billion, to help increase A10 processor production. It is also believed Apple will be switching to
just TSMC for all of its A10 fabrication, rather than splitting it between TSMC and Samsung.
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