The war between TSMC and Samsung is heating up and it’s expected to last well throughout the decade. The war only got hotter when TSMC announced that they will begin producing 7nm processors in 2017. Xilinx will be their very first customer.
Xilinx Inc. made the announcement late yesterday that they’re going to collaborate with TSMC on the 7nm process and 3D IC technology for the very next generation of All Programmable FPGAs, MPSoCs, and 3D ICs. This technology is the fourth consecutive generation where two companies have joined forces on an advanced process and CoWoS 3D stacking technology.
The official roll out of the 7nm products by Xilinx is due to take place in 2017. The speed with which this industry changes is very surprising. TSMC recently made the switch to a smaller process note and they also uncovered back in February that development of their in house product InFO-WLP technology was going to be the first to market with their foundry’s 16nm FinFet process manufacturing beginning in 2016. Then, it will be ready for more-advanced use in 10nm process beginning in 2017.
Apple’s next iPhone is due to arrive in September and it is based on 14nm. The iPhone released in 2016 will be based on the 10nm technology. Apple’s devices will finally be powered by 7nm processors starting in 2017.
The president and Co-CEO of TSMC, Mark Liu, said that the company is “pleased to work with Xilinx to enable its fourth generation of breakthrough products.” This could be just the advantage in technology TSMC needs to get the jump on Samsung for years to come. It’s even possible this processor might be able to deliver enough power to the highly advance 3D/VR headsets that are all the technological rage.
