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Ahead of TSMC’s upcoming third-quarter earnings call this Thursday, a report by the Commercial Times gives a heads-up on the foundry giant’s outlook of 3nm orders next year. With NVIDIA and AMD ramping up their next-gen AI accelerators, combined with the strong demand from smartphone chips, orders for TSMC’s 3nm node are set to see a surge in 2025, the report indicates.
According to analysts cited by the report, most flagship smartphone chips are expected to be manufactured with 3nm next year. For instance, Apple’s A19 Pro is said to adopt TSMC’s N3P process, while the Android phones are likely to follow suit.
In terms of the demand from AI accelerators, the report notes that AMD’s MI350 series will likely be manufactured with the 3nm node, which is going to benefit TSMC.
It is worth noting that according to another report by Commercial Times, at Advancing AI 2024 last week, AMD CEO Lisa Su highlighted the company’s close partnership with TSMC, saying that she would be glad to see the CHIPS Act bringing more manufacturing lines back to the U.S.
Sources cited by Commercial Times suggest that for now, AMD has no plans to collaborate with chip makers other than TSMC, and that the company is currently conducting a qualification assessment for chip production at TSMC’s Arizona fab (Fab 21).
On the other hand, Commercial Times indicates that NVIDIA’s orders on TSMC will likely see an increase next year, which would further tighten the foundry giant’s capacity in 3nm and 5nm. NVIDIA’s R-series GPUs are reportedly to be manufactured with TSMC’s 3nm as well, the report notes, but it would not be released until 2026.
TSMC is expected to see strong 3nm demands from other tech giants in 2025 as well. According to the report, Intel is said to outsource most of its Lunar Lake chips to TSMC, while the AI PC chip MediaTek co-develops with NVIDIA is also rumored to be built using the 3nm process. The report states that this chip is expected to debut in the second quarter of next year and enter mass production in the third quarter.
Sources cited by the report note that as clients turn to place orders on 3nm for their latest AI accelerators, foundry capacity will further be strained. Notably, TSMC’s CoWoS packaging reportedly allows interposers reaching 3.3 times for its maximum reticle size to manufacture chips such as NVIDIA’s B200, AMD’s MI300, or Intel’s Gaudi 3, with the number of chips produced on per interposer becoming fewer.
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(Photo credit: TSMC)
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MediaTek, a leading IC design company, has unveiled its flagship 5G Agentic AI processor, the Dimensity 9400, positioning it as an Arm PC-class processor. The chip features a second-generation all-big-core design, combining Arm v9.2 CPU architecture with advanced GPU and NPU technologies, promising high performance and ultra-energy efficiency. According to a report from TechNews, products powered by the Dimensity 9400 are expected to hit the market soon, setting the stage for a showdown with Apple’s A18 and Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 8 Gen 4.
The Dimensity 9400 employs a second-generation all-big-core CPU, featuring a single Arm Cortex-X925 core clocked at 3.62GHz, three Cortex-X4 cores, and four Cortex-A720 performance cores. Compared to its predecessor, the Dimensity 9300, the new chip offers a 35% boost in single-core performance and a 28% improvement in multi-core performance. Additionally, the Dimensity 9400 is built on TSMC’s advanced 3nm (N3E) process, resulting in a 40% reduction in power consumption, providing users with significantly longer battery life.
The processor also integrates MediaTek’s 8th-gen AI processor, the NPU 890, which supports on-device LoRA training and high-definition image generation, while offering developers access to Agentic AI capabilities. This results in a substantial improvement in AI performance and efficiency compared to the previous generation, with an 80% increase in prompt performance for large language models (LLM) and a 35% reduction in power consumption.
TechNews also highlighted that while the Dimensity 9400 emphasizes its all-big-core design, the configuration differs slightly from the previous Dimensity 9300, which used four Cortex-X4 cores and four Cortex-A720 cores. MediaTek explained that the new design was made for energy efficiency, as users don’t always need to run applications at the highest clock speeds of all big cores. Whether the performance lives up to MediaTek’s claims will be determined once the actual products hit the market.
Even before its launch, the Dimensity 9400 generated significant market interest. Reports suggest that vivo’s X200 series and OPPO’s Find X8 will be among the first devices to feature the new processor. Additionally, Samsung is considering replacing its in-house Exynos processor with the Dimensity 9400 in its upcoming Galaxy S25 series, set for release in 2025.
(Photo credit: MediaTek)
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In addition to its latest smartphone chipset Dimensity 9400, MediaTek seems to be working on another killer product. According to the reports by Chinese media outlet IT Home and Tom’s Hardware, the Taiwanese IC design giant is teaming up with NVIDIA on an AI processor, which is expected to be manufactured with 3nm and scheduled to be taped out later this month.
According to the reports, the chip is said to enter mass production by late 2025.
According to Tom’s Hardware, building on insights from Qualcomm’s Snapdragon X Elite launch, there’s room for a new Windows-on-Arm competitor from a mobile-focused company like MediaTek. As Qualcomm’s Snapdragon X Elite is comparatively weak in its graphic performance, this creates a market for NVIDIA and MediaTek to step in.
MediaTek’s upcoming AI processor is reportedly to be paired with NVIDIA’s GPU, while major laptop companies led by Dell, HP, Lenovo and Asus are said to be potential customers for the product, the reports note. According to a previous report by the Economic Daily News, the processor is rumored to be priced around USD 300.
It is also worth noting that MediaTek, which is known for its leading position on mobile chipsets, typically partners with AMD for hardware, with AMD utilizing MediaTek’s Wi-Fi 6E solutions in its mobile platforms, according to Tom’s Hardware. There have also been longstanding rumors of a 5G notebook collaboration between the two companies, the report says.
Therefore, it would be somewhat interesting if MediaTek does turn to NVIDIA, AMD’s biggest rival, for collaboration. However, as NVIDIA currently holds the throne of AI processors, it would not be surprising that MediaTek teams up with the U.S. AI giant when it chooses to expand its foothold to the AI PC sector.
It would not be the first time the two companies team up, though. In March, MediaTek announced at NVIDIA GTC four new automotive SoCs within its Dimensity Auto Cockpit portfolio, offering powerful AI in-cabin experiences for the next generation of intelligent vehicles.
For more details, it integrates an NVIDIA RTX GPU, which supports ray tracing for realistic visuals and lighting effects in games, plus AI upscaling and frame generation for fast, fluid action, according to MediaTek’s press release.
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Ahead of MediaTek’s official launch of Dimensity 9400, which takes place on October 9th, rumors have been circulating that Samsung may feature the chip in its Galaxy S25 next year. Now the first smartphone equipped with the chip has surfaced. According to the reports by Gizmochina, Wccftech and mydrivers, Vivo X200 series will reportedly be the first smartphone powered by the Dimensity 9400 chipset.
It is worth noting that Dimensity 9400 will be reportedly be manufactured with TSMC’s 3nm, according to Wccftech. This will also mark the first 3nm chip in the Android ecosystem, mydriver notes.
For more details, Vivo is anticipated to unveil the Vivo X200 series on October 14th, which includes the Vivo X200, Vivo X200 Pro Mini, and Vivo X200 Pro. According to Gizmochina, all the models will be powered by Dimensity 9400.
Dimensity 9400, by introducing the Arm Cortex-X925 super-large core, is said to offer a 36% performance increase and a 41% improvement in AI performance if compared to Cortex-X4, Gizmochina notes.
While MediaTek’s Dimensity 9400 is said to excel in performance, there have been rumors suggesting that the unit price of the SoC has increased by 20%, which could force smartphone manufacturers to adjust the prices of their flagship models, Wccftech notes.
However, as the start price of X200, which is the base model of Vivo’s latest lineup, has been revealed to be 3,999 Yuan (around USD 570) per unit, the aforementioned concern has been eased, Wccftech indicates.
Recent reports indicate that MediaTek’s Dimensity 9400 is priced 20% lower than Qualcomm’s upcoming Snapdragon 8 Gen 4, which enhance the likelihood for Samsung to adopt the chip in its upcoming S25 to reduce the cost.
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(Photo credit: Vivo)
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For Intel, last week was like a roller coaster. On Monday, the company settled down plans for restructuring after the board meeting. On Friday, however, according to reports by The Wall Street Journal and Bloomberg, it turns out that Qualcomm has reportedly reached out to Intel regarding a potential acquisition offer, which would rank as one of the largest-ever technology mergers if the deal were to take place.
Should Qualcomm take over Intel, the mega deal may have limited impact on TSMC, the world’s largest foundry. However, Taiwanese smartphone chip giant MediaTek would be more heavily impacted, according to Taiwanese media the Economic Daily News and Commercial Times.
Citing domestic and foreign institutional investors, the Economic Daily News notes that regarding that the Broadcom-Qualcomm saga came to an abrupt end in 2018, the likelihood of the Qualcomm-Intel deal to realize might be low. However, if the acquisition does go through, it could create certain impact on Taiwanese manufacturers.
Citing remarks from Hong Kong-based and foreign semiconductor analysts, the report by the Economic Daily News points out that Intel’s weakness in its foundry unit would be its fatal flaw. With Intel’s yield rates and performance in the advanced nodes lagging behind TSMC, even if Qualcomm successfully acquires Intel, it is expected that Qualcomm would not reclaim the orders currently outsourced to TSMC, indicating the impact to the Taiwan-based foundry giant would be minimal.
Furthermore, the report suggests that from Qualcomm’s perspective, the more logical scenario would be to acquire only Intel’s chip design business. However, from Intel’s standpoint, they would prefer to sell the entire company as a package. Thus, the analysts cited by the report project that Qualcomm is more likely to spin off Intel’s chip manufacturing business and sell it to a U.S. private equity firm after the acquisition.
Actually, in early September, a report by Reuters suggests that Qualcomm, known for its Snapdragon processors used in smartphones, had investigated the possibility of acquiring parts of Intel’s design business to enhance its product portfolio, and was particularly interested in Intel’s PC business.
On the other hand, the story may be different for Taiwanese chip makers. A report by the Commercial Times notes that the acquisition could create pressure on MediaTek, which is Qualcomm’s main rival, as it may face even fiercer competition in sectors like AI PCs and automotive platforms, of which the Taiwanese smartphone chip giant is expected to launch new products next year.
In addition, the takeover would also have negative impact on AMD’s supply chain in Taiwan, including companies like ASMedia, which specializes in high-speed Switch IC, USB, PCIe and SATA controllers, Commercial Times indicates.
It is worth noting that the potential deal would face significant challenges, particularly with antitrust and national security concerns, a report by CNBC notes. For instance, Intel’s recent attempt to acquire Tower Semiconductor and Qualcomm’s bid for NXP Semiconductor were both blocked by Chinese authorities, the report says.
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(Photo credit: Qualcomm)