SMIC Move To 7nm Node

[del42sa]

https://seekingalpha.com/article/4513009-applied-materials-smic-move-another-headwind

it seems that chinese semiconductor company finally moved to 7nm ( no EUV ) comparable with TSMC and
overtook the Global Foundries with their obsolete 12nm + process

 

[Kaotik]

Global Foundries with their obsolete 12nm + process

I think you following top end hardware on cutting edge process has twisted your view a bit there. 12nm is far from obsolete and much more modern than most chips built in the world use.

 

[del42sa]

I think you following top end hardware on cutting edge process has twisted your view a bit there. 12nm is far from obsolete and much more modern than most chips built in the world use.

perhaps, but still far behind 7nm in every metrics ..... and come on, 7nm is not cutting edge process anymore, that is now 5/4nm and 3nm.

 

[DegustatoR]

Most chips produced in the world right now don't need even 7nm. Haven't heard anything about GloFo having issues with loading up all of their production capacity.

 

[del42sa]

Most chips produced in the world right now don't need even 7nm. Haven't heard anything about GloFo having issues with loading up all of their production capacity.

yes in that terms, even 28nm are superior and UMC is very likely to resume its 14/12nm process production soon at the request of major clients who are keenly eyeing next-generation automotive or networking chips

 

[Kaotik]

yes in that terms, even 28nm are superior and UMC is very likely to resume its 14/12nm process production soon at the request of major clients who are keenly eyeing next-generation automotive or networking chips

Huh? You're actually suggesting there's modern semiconductor manufacturing out there that are NOT overbooked already?

 

[Silent_Buddha]

yes in that terms, even 28nm are superior and UMC is very likely to resume its 14/12nm process production soon at the request of major clients who are keenly eyeing next-generation automotive or networking chips

I'm not sure if you are joking or not, but Sony recently committed to a joint partnership with TSMC to build a new fab. The cutting edge process to be used? 28 nm and 7 nm.

TSMC and Sony officially create partnership to build $7 billion fab in Japan | ZDNet

Not all semi-conductor products need to be on the bleeding edge because the bleeding edge is really REALLY expensive. And not all semi-conductor products need to be on the smallest process node. Basically you only use the smallest and most expensive nodes if you really REALLY need to.

So yes, Sony decided that 28 nm is in fact superior for many of their product needs and 7 nm as well for certain other products. 5 nm was undesirable for this fab due to cost combined with the products being produced there not requiring it in order to meet the performance that they required.

Yup demand for 28 nm was high enough that Sony and TSMC decided to build a brand new fab to produce products utilizing the 28 nm process node.

Regards,
SB

 

[del42sa]

Not all semi-conductor products need to be on the bleeding edge because the bleeding edge is really REALLY expensive. And not all semi-conductor products need to be on the smallest process node. Basically you only use the smallest and most expensive nodes if you really REALLY need to.

maybe not all semi-conductor product needs to be on bleeden edge, but ALL Intel/AMD/Nvidia/IBM CPU/GPU and all smartphones CPU/SOC´/server ARM CPU do

 

[del42sa]

https://www.tomshardware.com/news/c...m-process-is-reportedly-copied-from-tsmc-tech

 

[hkultala]

perhaps, but still far behind 7nm in every metrics ..... and come on, 7nm is not cutting edge process anymore, that is now 5/4nm and 3nm.

"7nm" and "12nm" are only marketing names. The number in the marketing name tells absolutely Nothing about any true metrics of the process.

The most important metric of manufacturing process is MMP.

TSMCs N7 has MMP of 40nm, GF's smallest processs have MMP of 64nm. But the MMP of SMICs processes is not publicly disclosed.

And GF has Fully-depleted SoI in their 12FDX process. AFIK SMIC has no SOI processes.

So GF 12FDX is clearly better than SMIC's processes by at least one metric.

 

[del42sa]

"7nm" and "12nm" are only marketing names. The number in the marketing name tells absolutely Nothing about any true metrics of the process.

The most important metric of manufacturing process is MMP.

TSMCs N7 has MMP of 40nm, GF's smallest processs have MMP of 64nm. But the MMP of SMICs processes is not publicly disclosed.

And GF has Fully-depleted SoI in their 12FDX process. AFIK SMIC has no SOI processes.

So GF 12FDX is clearly better than SMIC's processes by at least one metric.

12FDX is pretty dead ....

 

[Kaotik]

"7nm" and "12nm" are only marketing names. The number in the marketing name tells absolutely Nothing about any true metrics of the process.

The most important metric of manufacturing process is MMP.

TSMCs N7 has MMP of 40nm, GF's smallest processs have MMP of 64nm. But the MMP of SMICs processes is not publicly disclosed.

And GF has Fully-depleted SoI in their 12FDX process. AFIK SMIC has no SOI processes.

So GF 12FDX is clearly better than SMIC's processes by at least one metric.

SMICs 7nm was estimated to be "close copy" of TSMCs 7nm last summer and they had already been shipping chips on it for a year at that point.

China's SMIC Shipping 7nm Chips, Reportedly Copied TSMC's Tech

China's 7nm shipping silently since 2021

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