As TSMC begins full-scale production of the Apple A15 processor in the second half of the year, production using EUV equipment in the 5nm process is expected to begin in earnest.

According to foreign media reports, TSMC announced that it will begin full-scale operation of its 5nm EUV process in the second half of 2021, starting production of the Apple A15 processor, the next-generation M1X and M2 processors for Apple MacBooks, and MediaTek's Dimensity 2000.

In addition, production of AMD's next-generation Zen4 processors will begin next year, and the utilization rate of the EUV process is expected to surge.

Accordingly, 5nm production capacity this year is expected to more than double that of 2020, and in 2023, process production capacity for 5nm and 4nm is expected to more than quadruple that of 2020.

TSMC has been using the EUV process since 7nm, but has used it on a large scale mainly for Huawei's Kirin 900, while using an improved 7nm process for Apple's A13.

According to industry sources, TSMC has relatively low 7nm production capacity and is expected to focus on 5nm in the future before moving on to the 3nm process and using the EUV process more extensively.

TSMC currently holds half of the world's EUV equipment market share and possesses the latest foundry processes and the largest production capacity.