TSMC’s 5nm process is likely to cost around $500 million to build and design, more than four times as much as the usual 28nm process. The company also plans to hire chip engineers from Taiwan, India, and Israel to design the chips.
Isaiah Research’s chief analyst, Eric Tseng, told Nikkei Asia that “we found that all the tech giants are seeking out the possibility of creating their own custom chips since they would be able to integrate features to meet their needs.”
These companies could then offer distinctive services and technologies without being restricted by their suppliers, and adjust their R&D workloads accordingly.” When the hardware and software are fully integrated, using one’s own chips provides the ideal scenario.”
In addition, a partner at Bain & Co, Peter Hanbury, noted that “Very few players have the skills or financial resources to design their own chips. So those who consider this path usually are extremely large players such as cloud service providers. Or those with highly valuable applications for these chips.”
Despite having its own Pixebook and Pixel Slate notebooks and tablets running Chromebook, Google has not had success selling these products. Anyone wondering why Google chose to name its own chip Whitechapel, will be able to use the Pixel 6 series.
