TSMC's 2nm node is expected to be costly for firms like NVIDIA and Apple, as the generational price increase is rumored to be massive.
TSMC's 'Gigantic' 2nm Price Hike Could Lead to a Massive Rise in Next-Gen CPU & GPU Pricing
Well, according to a report by ChinaTimes, TSMC's N2 and its derivatives are rumored to witness a massive price rise, and the price bump could be as high as 50%. Now, it is important to take this rumor with a grain of salt, since the situation around TSMC's node pricing isn't certain at all, and it evolves until the actual node comes into mass production. The report claims that 'semiconductor inflation' is brewing, and the price bump almost becomes necessary for the Taiwan giant to achieve the 2nm node size.
Next year, mobile phone chips will enter the 2-nanometer era. However, the industry has reported that TSMC's capital expenditure for advanced processes is huge, but the yield rate has already reached the standard, so there is no discount or bargaining strategy for the time being.
- ChinaTimes (Automated Translation)
The more important factor with TSMC's 2nm node this time is a 'radical shift' in demand from mobile products to HPC ones, with firms like NVIDIA and AMD in line for early adoption. The usual trend is that cutting-edge nodes were initially adopted by mobile SoCs, but this time, it seems like HPC products could arrive pretty soon, and according to a report we discussed earlier, ten out of fifteen TSMC 2nm customers are HPC-oriented.
Hence, this might be one of the reasons why the Taiwan giant could proceed with a massive price increase with 2nm production, since HPC customers have room for capital expenditure. Yet again, this isn't certain at all and is mere speculation. When it comes to the products planned around TSMC's 2nm nodes, we are looking at NVIDIA's Rubin Ultra and AMD's Instinct MI450 AI lineups to feature the node. Interestingly, at the consumer side, the RTX 'Rubin' GPUs and AMD's Zen 6 CPUs are also rumored to feature N2, which means that adoption will be higher.
Given that we do see a 50% price increase, consumer product prices will likely rise in parallel, which means next-gen CPUs and GPUs could become much more expensive.
About the author: Muhammad Zuhair is a hardware and technology reporter for Wccftech, specializing in the semiconductor industry and the complex interplay between technology, manufacturing, and geopolitics. His coverage focuses on the corporate strategies and technological roadmaps of industry giants like TSMC, NVIDIA, Samsung, and Intel. Zuhair's expertise lies in deconstructing complex topics such as fabrication nodes (e.g., 2nm process), the economic impact of policies like the CHIPS Act, and the strategic development of AI infrastructure from NVIDIA, AMD and Intel.
Follow Wccftech on Google to get more of our news coverage in your feeds.
