Taiwanese semiconductor company MediaTek (TPE:2454), in collaboration with Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. Ltd. (NYSE:TSM), has successfully developed the world's first 3nm chipset for smartphones. The announcement, made on Thursday, marks a significant milestone for both companies and the semiconductor industry at large.
The new flagship Dimensity system-on-chip (SoC), fabricated using TSMC's cutting-edge 3nm process technology, is expected to enter volume production next year. The chipset will be used in high-end products like tablets and smartphones, with devices featuring the new 3nm chipset likely to debut in H2 2024.
"This collaboration between MediaTek and TSMC on MediaTek's Dimensity SoC means the power of the industry's most advanced semiconductor process technology can be as accessible as the smartphone in your pocket,” said Dr. Cliff Hou, Senior Vice President of Europe and Asia Sales at TSMC.
MediaTek claims that the new 3nm process technology will provide an 18% increase in performance speed at the same power consumption while ensuring a 32% reduction in power consumption at the same speed, compared to the previous generation 5nm chips. Additionally, it offers a 60% increase in logic density, which combined with ARM’s new CPU and GPU cores, offers a significant boost from recent chipsets used by leading smartphone manufacturers.
Despite MediaTek's announcement, Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) may be the first company to ship devices with a 3nm chip. The forthcoming iPhone 15 series is expected to feature a 3nm A17 series processor. Meanwhile, tech giants Qualcomm (NASDAQ:NASDAQ:QCOM) and Samsung (KRX:KS:005930) are also expected to debut their first 3nm chips by the end of next year, with devices based on these chipsets possibly debuting in early 2025.
Samsung is reportedly developing an Exynos chip featuring a 3nm design and an improved AMD RDNA-based Xclipse GPU for use in the Galaxy S25 series.
MediaTek's 3nm Dimensity SoCs are designed to meet the increasing demands for mobile computing, high-speed connectivity, artificial intelligence, and multimedia. The company's first flagship chipset using TSMC's 3nm process is expected to empower smartphones, tablets, intelligent cars, and various other devices starting in the second half of 2024.
"We are committed to our vision of using the world's most advanced technology to create cutting-edge products that improve our lives in meaningful ways,” said Joe Chen, President of MediaTek. "TSMC's consistent and high-quality manufacturing capabilities enable MediaTek to fully demonstrate its superior design in flagship chipsets, offering the highest performance and quality solutions to our global customers and enhancing the user experience in the flagship market.”
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