The mobile phone market is most likely to recover in the second half of the year. However, the major chipmakers are still banking on 2024. This is because MediaTek and Qualcomm are preparing to launch new chipsets using TSMC’s 4-nanometre process in the second half of this year. We should note that only Apple has adopted the 3nm manufacturing process. So the iPhone 15 series, due in the second half of this year, will most likely be the world’s first TSMC 3nm phone. But that is only half the story.
According to China Times, Apple’s new MacBook Air, iPad Air / Pro and other product lines are expected to use TSMC’s 3nm process (N3E). Barring any accidents, we will see the final products in the second half of this year or the first half of next year. This will keep Apple in the market and TSMC’s largest customer.
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The supply chain suggests that TSMC’s 4-nanometer process will continue to be used for mass production of the new smartphone chips that Qualcomm and MediaTek plan to introduce in the second half of this year. This means that 3-nanometre technology won’t appear on any Android device until next year. If so, there is every reason to think that Android will fall behind iOS.
The harsh winter in the consumer market undoubtedly had an impact on Apple. As a result, iPhone sales fell by 8.2% in the fourth quarter of last year compared with the same period a year earlier. It was the Cupertino company’s first iPhone sales recession in seven years. But nothing can stop Apple.
To get back on track, Apple has ordered almost all of TSMC’s 3nm production capacity for this year. It is due to start trial production at the end of the second quarter and full production in the third quarter.
