TSMC delays High‑NA EUV
- Reports indicate TSMC is pushing High‑NA EUV adoption back toward 2029, favoring multi‑patterning and tool optimization instead. - Coverage cites the €350 million per unit High‑NA price tag and ASML backlogs through 2028 as pressures on timing. - The delay changes node roadmaps, letting foundries squeeze more from existing EUV while deferring huge capital buys. ( )
Chipmakers use lithography tools like ultra-precise printers to draw circuits on silicon. Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. now says it does not plan to use ASML’s newer High‑NA extreme ultraviolet machines in production before 2029. (bloomberg.com) High‑NA is the next version of extreme ultraviolet, or EUV, the light-based process used to print the smallest features on advanced chips. TSMC Deputy Co-Chief Operating Officer Kevin Zhang told reporters the company will keep using current EUV systems instead of buying High‑NA tools for near-term production. (bloomberg.com) The price is part of the decision. Bloomberg reported that High‑NA systems sell for more than €350 million, or about $410 million, each, and Zhang called them “very, very expensive.” (bloomberg.com, finance.yahoo.com) TSMC paired that message with a new roadmap. At its North America Technology Symposium on April 22, 2026, the company introduced A13 and said the node is scheduled to enter production in 2029, one year after A14. (pr.tsmc.com, pr.tsmc.com) A14 was announced a year earlier with production planned for 2028. TSMC’s April 23, 2025 release said A14 would deliver up to 15% higher speed at the same power, or up to 30% lower power at the same speed, with more than 20% higher logic density than N2. (pr.tsmc.com) The company is stretching today’s tools by making more than one pass on the same layer, a workaround known as multi-patterning. Reuters, cited by multiple outlets, reported that Zhang said TSMC’s research team had kept scaling with existing EUV while maintaining an “aggressive technology scaling roadmap.” (techpowerup.com, newsbreak.com) TSMC also added another stop on its 2-nanometer family before A13 arrives. Its April 2026 release said N2U is scheduled for production in 2028 and is positioned as a balanced option for artificial intelligence, high-performance computing, and mobile chips using the maturing 2nm platform. (pr.tsmc.com) ASML is pushing the industry the other way. Its 2025 annual report said customers had run more than 400,000 wafers on High‑NA EUV systems by the end of 2025, and the company said it had demonstrated the EXE:5200B at a customer site while qualifying the platform for high-volume manufacturing. (asml.com) Intel has moved first among major logic makers. Reuters, cited in February 2025 coverage, reported that Intel had two ASML High‑NA machines in production at its Oregon development fab and had processed about 30,000 wafers in one quarter. (techpowerup.com, trendforce.com) Investors treated TSMC’s timing as a setback for ASML. A market report on April 22 said ASML shares fell about 3% after TSMC’s comments, while noting that some analysts had already expected TSMC to wait until around 2030 for broader High‑NA adoption. (finance.yahoo.com) For now, the message from the largest contract chipmaker is that smaller chips can still be made with older EUV gear, more process work, and more time. The next test is whether that cheaper path holds through A14 in 2028 and A13 in 2029 without forcing TSMC into earlier High‑NA spending. (pr.tsmc.com, pr.tsmc.com, bloomberg.com)
