Next year, we expect to see 2nm chipsets flood the market. Companies like Apple, Qualcomm, MediaTek, and Samsung are expected to release devices powered by these 2nm chipsets . Now, there have been some concerns that the upgrade to 2nm could result in costlier phones, but maybe those concerns have been blown out of proportion. According to a recent report, the 2nm process used by TSMC is expected to only see limited gains in terms of power and performance.
TSMC’s 2nm process might be more limited than we think
This is according to a post on Weibo by someone calling themselves “Smart Chip Insider” . Right now, there are rumors suggesting that TSMC will charge customers $30,000 per wafer built on its 2nm process. However, the tipster claims those numbers are blown out of proportion.
Instead, the TSMC 2nm process might actually be more limited in terms of power, performance, and area improvements. On paper 2nm is supposed to represent a huge leap forward compared to 3nm, but the reality might be different.
However, many companies who are looking to adopt 2nm chipsets seem to be ok with that. The important thing is that there must be a distinction between the 2nm process and TSMC’s current 3nm N3P process. That sounds rather dubious, but not entirely surprising. After all, many companies already do that when it comes to smartphone camera technology.
Many companies love touting how many megapixels their phones can capture. But the reality is that most of us don’t even need that many megapixels. Framing your subject properly and choosing good lighting will result in a much better photo, regardless of camera technology.
Plus, most of us view photos on our phones these days. So, on a 6.8-inch display, can you really tell the difference? But therein lies the problem. Numbers are great for marketing, and a phone marketed with a 200MP camera suddenly looks and sounds more appealing than one with a 100MP camera.
What does this mean for companies?
If the tipster’s claims are true, then maybe the actual cost of TSMC’s 2nm wafers might be lower than we think. And that’s a good thing. We were worried that transitioning to 2nm would result in more expensive phones , but if the reality is that these chips aren’t as pricey as we thought, then maybe prices will remain the same, or it won’t be a huge jump.
Either way, we’ll have to wait and see. Samsung is expected to be the first to debut its own 2nm chipsets next year, so that might be a good way to gauge how the prices of other flagships will be for 2026.
