TSMC's 5nm and 3nm Production Lines Fully Booked Until 2025, Driven by AI Chip Demand

TSMC's 5nm, 3nm production lines remain 'fully loaded' in 1H 2025, strong orders for AI chips

TL;DR: TSMC's 5nm and 3nm production lines are fully booked until mid-2025 due to high demand for AI, Qualcomm, and MediaTek chips. AI chip orders will keep 5nm lines over 100% utilized in early 2025. TSMC's 5nm and 3nm production lines are fully loaded until the first half of 2025, thanks to the continued strong demand of AI chips, and Qualcomm + MediaTek smartphone chips. In a new report from Ctee, we're learning that AI chip orders will keep TSMC 5nm lines over 100% utilized in the first half of 2025 (which is normally a weaker time of the year for the semiconductor giant). TSMC is also expected to see CoWoS advanced packaging output at over 36,000 wafers per month by the end of 2024, and 90,000+ per month by the end of 2025. Ctee reports that the "breaking point" will be concentrated in Q4 2024, which will alleviate the current pressure on advanced packaging production capacity. The supply chain suggest that NVIDIA's new B200 series GPUs are gradually increasing in volume and production of 200,000 B200 chips will be made by the end of 2024, with B300A launching in Q3 2025. MediaTek's new Dimensity mobile processors use TSMC's new 3nm process node, while NVIDIA's new B200 series AI GPUs will use the 5nm process node at TSMC. We can expect 4nm-based B300 and B300A AI GPUs in Q3 2025, which will use TSMC's new CoWoS-L and CoWoS-S advanced packaging, respectively.

TSMC Reportedly Reaches "100% Utilization" With 5nm & 3nm Supply, Showing Its Dominance Over The Markets

TSMC's 5nm and 3nm processes are among the firm's "hottest" offerings in the markets, as the Taiwan giant reportedly hits a utilization rate of 100%. TSMC's 5nm & 3nm Products See Gigantic Demand, Driven By NVIDIA's AI Frenzy Along With Apple & MediaTek's Mobile Chip Ambitions It is simply a known fact that TSMC is by far one of the more dominant firms when it comes to semiconductor supply in the industry, simply because competitors like Intel Foundry and Samsung are slacking with their offerings, and this leaves the Taiwan giant in a spot where it can capitalize massively on the incoming demand. Based on a report by Ctee, TSMC is reportedly expecting a 100% utilization of 5nm production lines by next year, citing a massive upturn in demand from the AI industry. This development simply shows how dominant TSMC is in modern-day markets, giving competitors no space. TSMC's 5nm demand is said to be driven by NVIDIA's Blackwell B200 series of AI GPUs, which is why the Taiwan giant has witnessed all its production lines getting booked. It is said that NVIDIA plans to ship out a whopping 200,000 units of their B200 AI GPUs by the end of this year, and with such a large figure to cater to, TSMC has indeed prioritized Team Green over all others in this process. TSMC is expected to upscale 5nm production once the Arizona facility comes into operation, which is slated to occur somewhere by the end of 2024. Apart from 5nm, TSMC's sub-3nm nodes have too seen massive demand, mainly due to its huge adoption from the likes of Apple and MediaTek. TSMC was said previously to have assigned its 5nm production lines to prefer 3nm supply, which shows that not just 5nm alone, but 3nm has a significant role in increasing the Taiwan giant's semiconductor revenue. With NVIDIA employing 3nm in high-end Blackwell AI servers as well, it is certainly evident that 3nm will steal the market spotlight once it starts seeing a more wider adoption from the markets. All indicators clearly point towards the fact that TSMC is on its way to create a monopoly over the semiconductor markets, and with competitors like Samsung struggling with yield rate issues, it does seem like the present and the future belongs to the Taiwan giant.