Tag: TSMC

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The TSMC factory in Germany already has a construction start date. It is fundamental for Europe compared to the US and Asia

Asia’s dominance of the semiconductor industry is overwhelming. Currently this continent produces 90% of memory chips, 75% of microprocessors and 80% of silicon wafers, which places Europe and the US in a position of dependence which in the medium term can be counterproductive. In these circumstances, the Old Continent needs to consolidate and develop its position in the semiconductor industry.

On February 8, 2022 Ursula von der Leyen, the president of the European Commission, announced that Europe wants to be a fundamental player in this market, and the first step to achieve this requires manufacturing20% of the planet’s chips in 2030. The Chips Act Directive mobilizes up to 43 billion euros between public and private investment to make it possible, so that a part of that money is allocated to the subsidies received by large semiconductor manufacturers to develop new cutting-edge plants in Europe.

The countdown begins to start the construction of the TSMC factory in Dresden

The negotiation that the German Government has had with Intel and TSMC to consolidate the construction of their cutting-edge plants on German soil has not exactly been a bed of roses. The managers of these two companies know perfectly well that Europe needs your complicity to achieve the objectives that have been set during this decade in terms of integrated circuits, and they have taken advantage, as can be expected, of their position of strength to negotiate hard some very juicy subsidies.

The TSMC plant that will be housed in Dresden will presumably cost 10 billion euros

The German Administration has confirmed that it will dedicate 22 billion euros to providing direct incentives to chip manufacturers. The TSMC plant that will be located in Dresden will presumably cost 10 billion euros, and spokespeople for this Taiwanese company aim to obtain a subsidy of 50% of the total cost. We do not know if they have finally achieved their purpose, but it is likely that this is the case because it has just been made official that the start of construction of this plant will take place during the second half of 2024.

It is good news for both Germany and Europe. The construction and commissioning of a cutting-edge integrated circuit factory requires investing between three and four years of work, so this plant will probably be able to start chip production in 2027or, at most, in 2028. However, it is important that we do not overlook that the TSMC factory in Dresden is not the only pillar of the European strategy in the field of the semiconductor industry.

The factory that Intel will build in Magdeburg will cost 30 billion euros and will receive a subsidy of 10 billion. This American company has also confirmed that it will spend $4.6 billion on new facilities that will be located in Wrocław (Poland), as well as a further $13 billion on the expansion of its factory in Leixlip (Ireland). The purpose of the improvement of this last plant will be to double its manufacturing capacity and enable a factory prepared to increase chip production in the Intel node 4. The reality is unappealable: Intel and TSMC have a good grip on Europe by the lapel. And, despite everything, the Old Continent should feel grateful.

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Intel’s plan against an unattainable TSMC: beat Samsung and consolidate itself as the second largest chip manufacturer


Just 24 hours ago we participated in the annual meeting in which those responsible for Intel in Spain take stock of their business during the year that we have left behind, and also share with the invited journalists your forecasts for the new year. This event has been led by Norberto Mateos, consumer director for the EMEA area and general director of Intel Spain, and one of his statements seemed juicy enough to analyze in this article.

According to Norberto, Intel intends to consolidate itself as the second largest semiconductor manufacturer in the global market. At first glance it may seem that this phrase does not say much, but nothing could be further from the truth. It says a lot. And he says it because it makes something important official: the distance that the Taiwanese company TSMC, which is the largest manufacturer of integrated circuits on the planet, maintains over its two most advantaged competitors, who are none other than Intel and Samsung, is insurmountable in the short and medium term. term.

And at this juncture, Intel has set its eyes on Samsung. Currently, TSMC’s global market share is slightly over 50%, while that of Intel and Samsung ranges from 17 to 20% for both companies. It is clear that a realistic plan requires paying attention to the nearest competitor and taking the necessary steps to distance yourself from it and overcome it. This is precisely what Intel plans to do with Samsung. And the IDM 2.0 strategy () that Pat Gelsinger launched shortly after becoming the general management of this company in February 2021 is everything in this purpose.

IDM 2.0 aims to increase Intel’s competitiveness and reinforce synergies

The steps that this company has taken under the leadership of Gelsinger during the last three years do not only aspire to respond to the needs of Intel itself in the field of semiconductor manufacturing; They also seek to expand their client portfolio and position this company as one of the largest producers of integrated circuits for third parties. The chip manufacturing plant infrastructure that Intel had in 2021 was not sufficient to materialize this double objective, so Gelsinger took the only possible path.

Over the next few years, Intel will invest at least $80 billion in the development of several chip factories.

Intel is making multibillion-dollar investments to expand and strengthen its network of semiconductor manufacturing, packaging, assembly and verification plants. The two factories that it is currently setting up in Arizona (United States) will cost it 20 billion dollars, but this is far from all. It is also building a $25 billion chip factory in Kiryat Gat, Israel; prepares the launch of a 30 billion dollar plant in Magdeburg (Germany); will invest 4.6 billion dollars in new facilities that will be located in Wrocław (Poland), and, finally, it will spend 13 billion more dollars on the expansion of its factory in Leixlip (Ireland).

Intel will not assume 100% of these investments because it will receive juicy subsidies from the governments of the countries involved. Even so, his bet is intimidating from an economic point of view. However, its recipe has one more ingredient that we have not yet investigated: the synergy it maintains with TSMC. Yes, these two companies compete in the field of semiconductor manufacturing, and they will do so even more intensely in the future, but they are also allies.

TSMC also makes chips for Intel. It has been doing this for many years, and this relationship of complicity will endure in the future as an important part of the IDM 2.0 strategy. What’s more, analysts at the financial services company Goldman Sachs argue that Intel will strengthen its relationship with TSMC in the short term referring to this Taiwanese company the manufacturing of part of its semiconductors. According to these technicians, in 2024 Intel will buy chips worth $5.6 billion from TSMC, and in 2025 this figure will increase to $9.7 billion.

We still have to focus on the last major pillar of Intel’s strategy to beat Samsung and consolidate itself as the second largest chip manufacturer on the planet: its intention to develop 5 nodes in just 4 years. At the moment it is on the right track. Several of its plants, including the one in Ireland, are already manufacturing chips with Intel 4 lithography on a large scale. And Norberto Mateos has confirmed to us that nodes 20A and 18A will go into production this year with the purpose of being ready for circuit manufacturing. integrated on a large scale in 2025. Be that as it may, we can be sure of one thing: the competition between TSMC, Intel and Samsung will reach unprecedented ferocity in 2024 and 2025.

Cover image: Intel

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ASML has TSMC, Intel and Samsung in its grip. If they want 2nm chips they will have to go through the checkout


The first high-aperture extreme ultraviolet (EUV) photolithography equipment on the planet is on its way to the Intel factory in Hillsboro (USA). It is possible that by the time SamaGame readers are reading these lines it has already reached its destination. This very complex machine of about 300 million dollars It has been designed and manufactured by the Dutch company ASML, although Intel engineers have also participated in this process.

This first equipment will be used to start the testing phase, and presumably during 2024 TSMC, Intel and Samsung will receive more units of this machine, whose commercial name is Twinscan EXE:5000 or EXE:5200. In any case, ASML has confirmed that large-scale production with this photolithography equipment will begin in 2025. A priori, these seem like reasonable deadlines and are aligned with the itineraries managed by Intel, TSMC and Samsung.

In theory, high-aperture UVE lithography equipment will allow semiconductor manufacturers to produce integrated circuits beyond the 3 nm barrier. To make this possible ASML has implemented a very advanced optical architecture that It has an aperture of 0.55 compared to the value of 0.33 that the first generation UVE lithography equipment has. This refinement of optics allows higher resolution patterns to be transferred to the wafer, making it possible to manufacture chips using more advanced integration technologies than those currently used in 3nm nodes.

In reality, it is ASML who has the upper hand.

Without high-aperture UVE photolithography equipment there will be no 2nm integrated circuits. And much less than 1 nm. These chips already appear on the itineraries of the three companies I have talked about in this article, so we can be sure that their medium-term business requires their nodes to be well-oiled and capable of performing correctly to deliver the performance per wafer necessary to ensure the cost-effectiveness of these integration technologies. At this juncture it is evident that the role of ASML lithography machines is unquestionably leading.

According to ASML, its Twinscan EXE:5200 lithography equipment is capable of producing more than 200 wafers per hour.

As I mentioned in the first lines of this article, a high-aperture UVE photolithography equipment has an approximate price of 300 million dollars, while a first-generation EUV machine moves in the orbit of 150 million dollars. The difference in cost between one and the other is overwhelming. The reasonable conclusion we can reach once we have noticed this price difference is that integrated circuit manufacturers are going to be forced to optimize performance per wafer of its next nodes to keep the cost of the chips within an acceptable range. And they are also going to have to maximize their monthly wafer production.

According to ASML, its Twinscan EXE:5200 lithography equipment is capable of producing more than 200 wafers per hour. Furthermore, the improvements introduced by this company’s engineers in the optical and mechanical systems of this machine reduce the complexity of the processes involved in the manufacturing of integrated circuits, an asset that will benefit chip producers.

However, former ASML analyst Jeff Koch says the need to combine two types of mask exposure on the same wafer will significantly increase the cost of chip manufacturing. TSMC, Intel and Samsung weigh in on the many advantages that the new devices in the Twinscan EXE family put in their hands. But we must not overlook that the other tray resides a very notable increase in costs. Be that as it may, if these manufacturers want to produce chips of 2 nm, 1 nm and beyond, they will necessarily have to check out and get the new ASML machines.