Although the recent personal computer (PC) market has continued to be sluggish, AMD, a major processor manufacturer, has accelerated the generational alternation of central processing unit (CPU) and graphics processing unit (GPU) specifications, and has fully introduced chiplet design. In order to increase the number of cores and computing speed, including a new generation of 5nm Zen 4 architecture CPU will be launched in the second half of the year, the new RDNA 3 architecture GPU will integrate 5nm and 6nm process chiplets with multi-chip module (MCM) technology, TSMC Swallowing the big wafer foundry orders.
At the beginning of this year, Supermicro had a full line of Zen 3-based CPU and RDNA 2-based GPU products. Thanks to the support of TSMC's 7nm and 6nm production capacity, its market share reached a new high in the first quarter.
Supermicro's product line will start to switch to Zen 4 architecture CPU and RDNA 3 architecture GPU from the third quarter. Through the full introduction of chiplet technology, it will improve the yield of wafer production and increase the number of CPU and GPU cores. At the same time, it can also benefit from the shrinking of the process to 5 nanometers and the effective reduction of power consumption. It is expected that the total number of 5-nanometer wafers will reach 20,000 in the fourth quarter, and TSMC's 5-nanometer production capacity has been booked in advance for next year.
Industry insiders pointed out that AMD's main production in TSMC this year will be 7nm and 6nm, but will increase the 5nm production from the fourth quarter. Based on the following orders, AMD will be the largest customer of TSMC's 7nm and 6nm processes this year, and will also be the third largest customer of TSMC, second only to Apple and Qualcomm, the second largest.
Due to external environmental variables such as China's epidemic lockdown, the Russian-Ukrainian war, and global inflation, the demand for consumer PCs and Chromebooks has been sluggish. However, Supermicro has successfully focused on server, commercial, e-sports and other market strategies, with x86 processor market share The rate rose from 25.6% in the fourth quarter of last year to 27.7% in the first quarter of this year, the eighth consecutive quarter of expansion.
Supermicro CEO Lisa Su said that external environmental factors, including China's epidemic lockdown, have led to weak PC sales and unsmooth production chains, but they have not had much impact on Supermicro, mainly because new products are used in servers. , e-sports, commercial and other target markets have increased sales and market share. It is expected that after the uncertain factors gradually subside, the personal computer market will still perform as expected in the peak season in the second half of the year.
Supermicro Zen 4 architecture CPUs all adopt TSMC's 5nm process, including high-end desktop processor Storm Peak and mainstream desktop processor Raphael, high-end notebook processor Dragon Range and mainstream notebook processor Phoenix, which will be in the third It will be launched from the end of the quarter to the first half of next year. In addition, the AMD RDNA 3 architecture GPU will be designed with 5nm and 6nm heterogeneous chiplets and MCM modules. It is expected to be launched in the second half of the year and seize business opportunities in the Christmas e-sports market at the end of the year.
TSMC's top ten customers: AMD third
There is no doubt that TSMC's largest customer is Apple. Huawei's HiSilicon chips originally ranked second. After the second quarter of 2020 was no longer shipped to Huawei due to the US ban, TSMC's top customers were reshuffled. According to foreign media reports, Apple accounts for more than 25% of TSMC's total revenue, and it is the largest customer. MediaTek ranks second with 5.8%, followed by AMD, Qualcomm and Broadcom.
Digitimes quoted US media reports that among TSMC's top ten customers, Apple accounted for 25.93% of its revenue, which shows that the degree of dependence is quite high, and the proportion of revenue contributed by Apple continues to increase.
After Apple, the other nine customers and revenue contribution ratios are in order: MediaTek accounts for 5.8%, AMD (AMD) accounts for 4.39%, Qualcomm 3.90%, Broadcom 3.77%; Nvidia ranks sixth to tenth. 2.83%, Marvell 1.39%, STMicroelectronics (STM) 1.38%, Analog Devices (ADI) 1.06%, and Intel (Intel) 0.84%.
It was previously reported that Intel hopes to strive for more TSMC advanced process capacity in the next 2-3 years, but the current proportion is only 0.84%, barely making it into the top ten, while Huawei HiSilicon has disappeared from the list.
According to 2019 data, Huawei was TSMC's second-largest customer at that time, with a revenue contribution of about 14% and Apple's share of about 23%. With Huawei being sanctioned by the United States, major customers such as Apple, MediaTek and AMD , and quickly filled the original capacity vacated by Huawei.
In the past, huida and Qualcomm, which placed TSMC's huge orders, transferred some orders to TSMC's rival Samsung due to cost considerations and diversification of the risk of placing orders, so it is difficult to squeeze into the top three as in the past.
The report pointed out that for TSMC, there are fewer and fewer customers who can afford advanced processes below 7 nanometers. Most customers stay at 7 nanometers, and the only major customers below 5 nanometers are Apple, MediaTek, Qualcomm, AMD, NVIDIA, Sailing Lingsi, as well as cross-border giants such as Google and Tesla.
As for the 3nm that TSMC has not mass-produced, there are even fewer customers. Apart from Apple, Intel will be the second major customer to adopt the 3nm process, and it is quite urgent for production capacity. It is expected that in the next 1 to 2 years, Intel is expected to rank among the TSMC's top three customers, and become one of the main profit.
