Physical Design Expert
It’s good times to be in the foundry business — at least if you are TSMC. The firm has announced plans for much higher capital expenditures than it originally forecast for this year. Originally, TSMC expected to spend ~$11B on CapEx improvements for 2019.
Source: TSMC Announces Major Expansion to Feed 7nm, 5nm Demand
Enlarge / Intel will begin producing 10nm products in its Chandler, Arizona, facility as well as the two current 10nm facilities in Oregon and Israel. Intel’s years-long struggle with the 10nm manufacturing process may finally be over.
Source: Intel hits 10nm goals and signals a shift away from traditional CPUs
As 2018 began, TSMC broke ground for their 5nm processor plant that will be making chips for Apple’s iPhone 12 in 2020. The story now shifts to 3nm and beyond.
CPU IPC can keep improving, but both Intel and AMD are having trouble raising clocks. It’s not clear there’s a solution to the problem.
Source: Overclocking Results Show We’re Hitting the Fundamental Limits of Silicon – ExtremeTech