Asia Express - East Asian ICT
MediaTek's 3nm Chips Set to Enter Mass Production Next Year
September 08, 2023
In anticipation of the burgeoning edge computing opportunities, the leading mobile chipmaker MediaTek has partnered with Taiwan's premier foundry TSMC. The two companies recently announced that MediaTek's inaugural flagship chip, Dimensity produced using TSMC's cutting-edge 3nm process, has entered the tape-out phase, which signifies the final stage of the design process. Mass production is set to commence in 2024, marking MediaTek as TSMC's second customer in 3nm chips, following Apple.
 
Despite a continuous downward trend in global smartphone shipments, estimated to reach only 1.1 billion units for the entire year, major smartphone brands persist in launching flagship products. TSMC's 3nm process exhibits impressive statistics, including a 60% increase in logic density, a 30% rise in chip density, and an 18% surge in processing speed at the same power consumption. When comparing power consumption at equivalent speeds, this translates to a 32% reduction, solidifying its status as the most advanced semiconductor logic process currently available.
 
Following an expected period of restrained growth in 2023, the global semiconductor market's value is projected to reach US$576 billion in 2024, with a projected year-on-year growth rate of 11.8%, as reported by MIC (Market Intelligence & Consulting Institute). Established in 1987, MIC is a division of the III (Institute for Information Industry), a prominent government think tank and one of the leading IT research institutes in Taiwan.