TSMC rethinks the leading edge
- TSMC said it will delay using ASML’s newest High‑NA lithography tools and spotlighted other technology steps. - The company debuted A13 process technology and plans a chip‑packaging plant in Arizona by 2029. - The moves signal cost discipline and a focus on packaging as a strategic bottleneck rather than immediate adoption of pricier tools (bloomberg.com) (businesswire.com) (macdailynews.com).
TSMC said it will delay adopting ASML’s newest High‑NA extreme‑ultraviolet (EUV) lithography machines through 2029. (bloomberg.com) Deputy co‑COO Kevin Zhang told reporters TSMC has “no current plans” to use the High‑NA tools and called them “very, very expensive”; ASML’s High‑NA units cost upwards of €350 million each. (bloomberg.com) (finance.yahoo.com) At its North America Technology Symposium on April 22, 2026, TSMC unveiled the A13 process, a direct shrink of A14 that the company says delivers about 6% area savings and is scheduled for production in 2029. (businesswire.com) TSMC also said construction has begun to add advanced packaging capacity in Arizona and that it aims to build Chip‑on‑Wafer‑on‑Substrate (CoWoS) and 3D‑IC capabilities there before 2029. (money.usnews.com) Advanced packaging is critical because modern AI and high‑performance chips often combine multiple dies and memory stacks inside a single package, a step companies including Nvidia have identified as a supply bottleneck. (money.usnews.com) High‑NA EUV is a next‑generation lithography tool that raises the numerical aperture (from roughly 0.33 toward 0.55) to print finer features with fewer overlay tricks, but it requires new optics, pellicles and process chemicals. (electronics360.globalspec.com) (newsroom.intel.com) Markets reacted: ASML shares fell about 3% after TSMC’s comments, a decline that Morningstar said erased roughly €14.32 billion ($16.76 billion) of ASML’s market value in early trading. (finance.yahoo.com) (morningstar.com) Other foundries have moved faster on High‑NA — Intel installed the first commercial High‑NA scanner in 2024 and has been using it for development — while TSMC says its current low‑NA EUV plus multi‑patterning will meet its roadmap through 2029. (newsroom.intel.com) (electronicsweekly.com) TSMC plans A13 production and U.S. packaging capabilities by 2029, and Kevin Zhang said the company will “continue to be able to harvest the benefit from current EUV” while deferring broader High‑NA adoption. (businesswire.com) (electronicsweekly.com)
