TSMC expected to begin 20-nm line early

Peter Clarke, EETimes
4/3/2013 6:41 AM EDT

LONDON – Foundry Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. Ltd. (Hsinchu, Taiwan) is reportedly going to start installing equipment for 20-nm CMOS production at its Fab 14 on April 20, two months earlier than previously planned.

TSMC would then be able to begin volume production at the end of the second quarter and ramp 20-nm production in the second half of 2013 a Focus Taiwan report said referencing unnamed sources.

That timetable seems extreme as it usually takes several months to get a production line hooked up and another few months for the first wafers to "pipeclean" the line. However a smooth installation could get some additional 20-nm production out in 2013.

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