Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. is positioning its upcoming 2nm technology as a luxury product, with wafer prices reaching $30,000 (NT$900,000) and total development costs hitting $725 million (NT$21.6 billion) per chip design, according to supply chain sources.
The pricing represents nearly double the cost of current 4nm and 5nm wafers, reflecting TSMC’s market dominance and strong pricing power as competitors Intel and Samsung struggle with lower yield rates. TSMC’s 2nm yields are reportedly well above 60-70%, while rivals Samsung and Intel lag at 20-30%.
The foundry expects monthly capacity to reach 30,000 wafers by year-end, with facilities in Hsinchu’s Baoshan and Kaohsiung ramping production. Early customers include AMD for server processors, MediaTek for its September tape-out of likely flagship mobile chips, and Apple for A20 processors destined for iPhone 18 and M6 chips for Mac computers.
The technology marks TSMC’s shift to gate-all-around transistors, abandoning the FinFET architecture used in previous generations. Future applications will extend to major cloud providers, with Google’s eighth-generation TPU, Amazon’s Trainium 4, and Microsoft’s Maia 300 processors planned for the advanced node by 2027.
TSMC projects AI accelerator revenue will compound annually in the mid-40% range through 2029, banking on demand from customers willing to pay premium prices for cutting-edge performance. The strategy effectively creates a two-tier market where only the most profitable tech giants can afford leading-edge silicon.
