TSMC Posts on XDA

Huawei and Honor turn to high-end MediaTek chipsets for some new phones following new U.S. trade restrictions

Huawei and Honor turn to high-end MediaTek chipsets for some new phones following new U.S. trade restrictions

May 26, 2020
For a time, it seemed as if Huawei was dealing fine with the aftermath of the U.S trade restrictions that were imposed on it in May 2019. Despite being placed on the U.S. Commerce Department's Entity List, Huawei's Consumer Business Group continued to function. It was wounded, but the damage wasn't catastrophic. Huawei was prevented...
Huawei HiSilicon’s new 14nm Kirin 710A chip was manufactured by Shanghai-based SMIC

Huawei HiSilicon’s new 14nm Kirin 710A chip was manufactured by Shanghai-based SMIC

May 13, 2020
By now, most readers should be well familiar with the Huawei-US trade ban saga. The story started back in May 2019, when Huawei was placed on the U.S. Entity List by the U.S. Commerce Department as a part of the U.S.-China trade war. Since that time, Huawei has noticeably struggled to rise above an existential...
[Update: May move forward] U.S. Government considers blocking TSMC from making chips for Huawei

[Update: May move forward] U.S. Government considers blocking TSMC from making chips for Huawei

March 27, 2020
For close to a year, Huawei has been trying to stay competitive despite dire US sanctions hitting them very hard for certain regions. The company was placed on the Department of Commerce's Entity List, meaning that US companies are barred from exporting products to Huawei. This sole fact by itself is already pretty devastating, as...
GlobalFoundries sues TSMC and 20 companies to block chip shipments to the US and Germany

GlobalFoundries sues TSMC and 20 companies to block chip shipments to the US and Germany

August 28, 2019
SoC's, or System-on-a-Chip, form the brains of a smartphone, directly dictating the capabilities, power, and features of the smartphone. SoCs are at the forefront of the smartphone upgrade cycle, as OEM refresh cycles are dependent on new features being brought over by the advancement to the SoC. While companies like Qualcomm design their own SoCs...
Report: TSMC to ‘Snatch’ Qualcomm’s Chip Orders for 2018 and Manufacture Snapdragon 855

Report: TSMC to ‘Snatch’ Qualcomm’s Chip Orders for 2018 and Manufacture Snapdragon 855

December 22, 2017
There are two main players in the foundry industry for mobile chipsets: Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. (TSMC) and Samsung Electronics. For years, the two companies have been competing to win Qualcomm's orders for its Snapdragon chipsets. For example, the Snapdragon 810 was made on TSMC's troubled 20nm process, but its successor the Snapdragon 820 was...
Qualcomm Ends Foundry Partnership with Samsung and Entrusts 7nm Process to TSMC

Qualcomm Ends Foundry Partnership with Samsung and Entrusts 7nm Process to TSMC

June 12, 2017
Reports originating from Korea state that Qualcomm has found a new partner in TSMC for its future SoCs built on the 7nm process. This newfound partnership also signals the end of Qualcomm's consignment production (foundry) partnership with Samsung Electronics. The Qualcomm Snapdragon 835 was built using Samsung's process technology and fabrication plants, and was the first...
Mediatek Officially Unveils the 10 nm Helio X30 and 16 nm Helio P25

Mediatek Officially Unveils the 10 nm Helio X30 and 16 nm Helio P25

September 26, 2016
At a press event in China, MediaTek held their official launch event for their long awaited flagship Helio X30, and their latest mid range chip, the Helio P25. The Helio X30 is a 10 core big.LITTLE chip, with two 2.8 GHz A73 cores, four 2.2 GHz A53 cores, and four 2 GHz A35 cores on TSMC’s...