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7LPP (7nm Low Power Plus): 7LPP, the first semiconductor process technology to use an EUV lithography solution, is scheduled to be ready for production in the second half of this year. Key IPs are under development, aiming to be completed by the first half of 2019.
7LPP (7nm Low Power Plus): 7LPP, the first semiconductor process technology to use an EUV lithography solution, is scheduled to be ready for production in the second half of this year. Key IPs are under development, aiming to be completed by the first half of 2019.
In my opinion most TSMC customers will skip 7+EUV for 5nm EUV and will start designing later this year for production in 2020 (Apple will be first). Apple will do an optimized 7nm chip for A13 in 2019 (A12 is also 7nm) like they did at 16nm for the A9 and A10.
I think people are forgetting that there is more to the world than just phone and desktop chips. In particular Apple are definitely committed to watches, and Samsung appear to be committed.
Relevance is that the next watch SoC (for both companies) might be a reasonable target for the first round of EUV processes. Volumes are large enough to be significant, but not so large that they could be difficult to fulfill. Area is small. Low power (and physical size) is important enough to pay a little extra for. And in both cases a definite release schedule has not been established as a pattern, meaning the device could slip by three months (or worse) and not cause much undue commotion in the wider world.
For Samsung the way this plays out is clear.
For Apple, it remains unknown who manufactures their most recent watch SoCs, but if they do choose TSMC this time round, targeting 7nm+EUV is possible for all the reasons I describe.
Looking forward, what kinds of options are available for Intel?
Can Intel outsource the 10nm production to foundries (understandable the product might be named differently) and concentrate their resource to the development of next generation of Intel solutions? Or it's impossible due to some technical difficulties?
