Semiconductor powerhouse TSMC is experiencing a surge in orders for its 3nm chips from its three primary customers – Apple, Intel, and AMD, as reported by Taiwanese media source Economic Daily News. TSMC introduced its 3nm process in late 2022, but until the last quarter of 2023, Apple remained the sole customer for this technology while TSMC gradually increased its production. As this scenario evolves, TSMC’s revenue from 3nm chips is projected to exceed 20% of its total this year, making them the second-largest revenue source for the company after its 5nm chips, according to the Economic Daily News report.

As orders from major clients for its 3nm chips continue to grow, TSMC is anticipated to witness substantial short-term revenue growth and solidify its leading position in the advanced semiconductor manufacturing industry.

The Economic Daily News has evaluated the order status of TSMC 3nm chips from three primary clients: Apple, Intel, and AMD.

Apple’s forthcoming iPhone 16 series will incorporate the new A18 series processor, and its new Mac processor (the M4 series) is slated to debut in the first quarter of 2025. Both of these are 3nm chips scheduled for production by TSMC starting in the second quarter of this year.
In the second quarter of 2024, Intel will commence mass production of Lunar Lake CPUs (central processing units), GPUs (graphics processing units), and high-speed Input/Output chips at TSMC. This represents Intel’s first time outsourcing its full range of chips for mainstream consumer platforms to TSMC. The CPU/GPU cores could also employ 3nm technology, indicating a new source of orders for TSMC’s 3nm process this year.
AMD is set to launch its new Zen 5 architecture platform this year, which is predicted to significantly boost AI applications. The report indicates that AMD’s Zen 5 architecture using TSMC’s 3nm process is planned for a release in the second half of 2024.
In the last quarter of the previous year, TSMC’s revenue from 3nm chips had already increased to about 15%, propelled by the order of the 3nm A17 Pro processor for the Apple iPhone 15 series, as per TSMC’s financial reports.

TSMC has captured over 90% of the total global AI chip foundry orders, with tech giants such as Nvidia, Google, Intel, Qualcomm, Microsoft, and AMD fiercely competing in the AI chip market, as reported by Economic Daily News.

Driven by the robust demand for AI chips, the high utilization rates of advanced processes of 6nm, 5nm, 4nm, or 3nm will further enhance TSMC’s performance, a company insider informed Economic Daily News. TSMC’s revenue in 2024 may rise by 24% to 26% year-on-year, the source stated.