Published in PC Hardware

TSMC will be Apple ready soon

by on04 February 2015


16nm chips for the A10 processor

TSMC will have its backend integrated fan-out (InFO) wafer-level packaging (WLP) technology ready for 16nm chips soon in the hope it can attract orders for Apple's A10 processors.

The outfit's 20nm process successfully grabbed orders for Apple's A8 processors and took away business from Samsung Electronics.

Apple defected back to Samsung to manufacture its A9 SoC chips and Samsung nicked the majority of the chip orders.
However TSMC is letting it be known that its in-house developed InFO-WLP technology may help it win back orders from Apple in 2016. It will be first available for the foundry's 16nm FinFET process manufacturing in 2016, and be ready for a more-advanced 10nm process in 2017.

TSMC planned InFO-WLP technology for the production of 20nm chips in 2015, but changed its mind as the foundry expects the combination of its InFO-WLP and FinFET process will help it compete for Apple's A10 chip orders.

InFO-WLP is cheaper than TSMC's chip on wafer on substrate packaging, bit it is still pricer when compared to the cost of flip-chip chip-scale packaging (FC-CSP).

Last modified on 04 February 2015
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