TSMC to begin 5nm chip volume production in April, Huawei Mate 40 series Kirin chipset

Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC) will begin volume production of chips built using 5nm process technology in April, reported DigiTimes, citing industry sources.

Huawei is one of the biggest customers of TSMC and the company’s next flagship Kirin chipset will be produced with a 5nm process – Kirin 1000 or Kirin 1020 (tentative names). The chipset will be installed in the Huawei Mate 40 series, scheduled to launch in the second half of 2020.

Kirin chipset process evolution:

Kirin 960 – 16nm

Kirin 970 – 10nm

Kirin 980 – 7nm

Kirin 990 5G – 7nm+

Kirin 1000 – 5nm

Currently, Huawei has not revealed its plans for its next flagship chipset but it’ll be introduced during the IFA 2020 event in September. In addition, Huawei also has a new mid-range 5G chipset ready in the coming month.