On the pages of the DigiTimes website, forecasts were voiced by one of the TSMC executives on the rate of increase in revenue from the production of products manufactured using promising technical processes. Since TSMC customers already get serial 10-nm products, there is a trend towards revenue growth in this direction. If 10-nm orders in the second quarter brought TSMC only 1% of revenue, then by the end of this quarter, their share will grow to 10% of revenue. At the end of the year, the average figure will remain at the same level.
The decrease in demand for processors for smartphones in the first half of the year should be replaced by a rise in the second half, but for TSMC the third quarter will be characterized by a decrease in the rate of profit due to an increase in costs for developing the release of 10-nm products. In general, the management of TSMC looks at the prospects for the semiconductor market with optimism, raising the forecast for the growth of global revenue for 2017 from 4% to 6%. Memory in this sample is not included, and TSMC does not deal with the release of memory chips. The revenue of the TSMC itself should grow by 5-10% by the end of the year, as the company's management expects. Capital expenditures will increase by 10% compared to 2016.
Mass production of 7-nm products will be launched in 2018, now there are at least 13 customers preparing their products for the relevant phase of the life cycle. True, most of them are concentrated in the segment of mobile processors for smartphones. By 2019, TSMC expects to master an improved version of the 7-nm process technology, using ultra-violet ultraviolet lithography (EUV) lithography. Experimental production of 5-nm products will start in the first quarter 2019.