TSMC expects to start mass production of 5nm chips by the end of 2019

TSMC expects to start mass production of 5nm chips at the end of 2019, early 2020. The company is investing more than 21 billion euros in 5nm production. The company is ramping up 7nm production.

TSMC gave an update on its future plans for chip manufacturing at a meeting in Taiwan, reported by DigiTimes. The company will start production of the first 5nm chips in the first half of 2019, the so-called risk production. Mass production should then follow at the end of 2019 or early 2020. To make that production possible, the company is investing 21.5 billion euros in Fab 18, its new production facility at the Taiwan Science Park. TSMC wants to use the same facility for 3nm production.

During the meeting, TSMC tried to allay concerns about 7nm production. The manufacturer is expanding the capacity to twelve million wafers and has orders for fifty chip designs from AMD, Nvidia, Qualcomm and Bitmain, among others, which designs asics for mining cryptocurrencies. The risk production of the second generation 7nm chips, in which TSMC will use ASML’s EUV chip machines, will start in the third quarter of this year. TSMC previously announced that production, called CLN7FF+ by the company, will start in 2019.