14 DAY TRIAL // NVIDIA may not be all that happy with the fact that TSMC is moving to 20nm, wanting a larger leap, but Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company is moving forward as planned, although apparently a bit faster.
Long story short, TSMC has increased the speed at which is buys 20nm manufacturing equipment.
Now, volume production is expected to begin in the first quarter of 2014, rather than mid-year or the second half.
Meanwhile, shipments of 16nm HKMG equipment have begun, though nothing will actually come of that for a while.
NVIDIA isn't all that enthused about 20nm, because the cost-per-transistor won't go below those of 28nm. This has been a growing problem with each node advancement, and means that there won't be a lower manufacturing cost to compensate for the expenses associated with the improvements to the GPU technology.
If this continues, NVIDIA might have to come up with its own manufacturing techniques, and put its foot down before it has to shoulder the costs of the “yield issues” and such.