The world’s largest chip foundry, Tawain Semiconductor Manufacturing (TSMC) (NYSE:TSM), is about to kick off mass production of cutting-edge chips using its 3nm process node. To put it in simple terms, as the process node number drops, the transistors used to build these integrated circuits become smaller allowing more of them to fit inside a small, dense space like a chip. The higher a chip’s transistor count, the more powerful and energy-efficient it is.
Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL) is TSMC’s largest customer and it is responsible for 25% of the company’s revenue. Apple CEO Tim Cook said that the company will buy an undisclosed number of those components. TSMC also announced earlier this month that starting in 2026, it will produce some 3nm chips at a second fab it is building in Arizona. That Arizona plant is currently under construction and is slated to open in 2024.
