Try not to panic but the world's largest chipmaker is booked up until 2024

TSMC wafers on top of one another
(Image credit: Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co., Ltd)

We've seen such a huge spike in demand for PC components recently that manufacturers having a hard time keeping up. Now it's surfaced that TSMC, the worlds largest semiconductor manufacturer, has had its entire flagship, 3nm wafer capacity reserved until 2024. 

Your next machine

(Image credit: Future)

Best gaming PC: the top pre-built machines from the pros
Best gaming laptop: perfect notebooks for mobile gaming

TSMC has invested around $71.4bn in these new chips, and according to sources (elchapuzasinformatico, hardwaretimes), it looks like the new process nodes will be coming in four waves. The majority of this first wave, which is limited to 55k units, will be handed out to Apple. After which, production will increase to 105K units, and will trickle down to AMD, NVIDIA, Xilinx, and Qualcomm.

But what about the boys in blue? Intel is looking to outsource to TSMC, but if the above is anything to go by, it certainly won't be getting priority on its 3nm production capabilities. Without a long-term partnership sweetening the deal, and thanks to only a small-middling demand from Intel, TSMC will consider the company only a "second-tier customer." As such, Intel may be stuck with 7nm and 5nm process nodes. 

I'm trying to mask my pain, but this year's not going well for us PC builders. And it's the underlying tech supply tribulations that are the reason for our misery.

In any case, Intel's CEO, Pat Gelsinger noted that most of its CPUs will be produced in-house from 2023 onwards, so hopefully the blue team won't have to rely on outsourcing the production of its mainstream CPUs to TSMC for long. 

Still, Intel will also be subject to the same shortages in other areas that are affecting manufacturers worldwide, so who can say how this will play out.

Katie Wickens
Hardware Writer

Screw sports, Katie would rather watch Intel, AMD and Nvidia go at it. Having been obsessed with computers and graphics for three long decades, she took Game Art and Design up to Masters level at uni, and has been rambling about games, tech and science—rather sarcastically—for four years since. She can be found admiring technological advancements, scrambling for scintillating Raspberry Pi projects, preaching cybersecurity awareness, sighing over semiconductors, and gawping at the latest GPU upgrades. Right now she's waiting patiently for her chance to upload her consciousness into the cloud.

Latest in Processors
Texas Instruments MSPM0C1104 tiny chip
World's smallest microcontroller looks like I could easily accidentally inhale it but packs a genuine 32-bit Arm CPU
Intel engineers inspect a lithography machine
Finally some good vibes from Intel as stock jumps 15% on new CEO hire and Arizona fab celebrates 'Eagle has landed' moment for its 18A node
A photo of an Intel Core Ultra 9 285K processor surrounded by DDR5 memory sticks from Corsair, Kingston, and Lexar
Fresh leak suggests Intel's on-again-off-again Arrow Lake CPU refresh is back on the menu (boys)
 photo shows a factory tool that places lids on data center system-on-chips at an Intel fab in Chandler, Arizona, in December 2023. In February 2024, Intel Corporation launched Intel Foundry as the world’s first systems foundry for the AI era, delivering leadership in technology, resiliency and sustainability.
Return of the gigahertz wars: New Chinese transistor uses bismuth instead of silicon to potentially sock it to Intel and TSMC with 40% more speed
 photo shows a factory tool that places lids on data center system-on-chips at an Intel fab in Chandler, Arizona, in December 2023. In February 2024, Intel Corporation launched Intel Foundry as the world’s first systems foundry for the AI era, delivering leadership in technology, resiliency and sustainability.
So, wait, now TSMC is supposedly pitching a joint venture with Nvidia, AMD and Broadcom to run Intel's ailing chip fabs?
Pipboy holds up an open padlock.
A BIOS update could be all that's stopping you or someone else from jailbreaking your old AMD CPU
Latest in News
Mechs fight on the outside of a spaceship
MechWarrior 5: Clans is getting DLC with playable Elementals and a fight on the outside of a spaceship
Aloy - Horizon
'I feel worried about this art form:' Unsurprisingly, the real Aloy from Horizon isn't a fan of AI Aloy
Crying laughing emoji with disturbing realistic elements for REPO
REPO's first update will add a new map and a 'duck bucket' so we can finally give that pesky quacker a time out
Man facing camera
The Day Before studio reportedly sues Russian website for calling infamous disaster-game a 'scam'
Will Poulter holding a CD ROM
'What are most games about? Killing': Black Mirror Season 7 includes a follow-up to 2018 interactive film Bandersnatch
Casper Van Dien in Starship Troopers
Sony, which is making a Helldivers 2 movie, is also making a new Starship Troopers movie, but it's not based on the Starship Troopers movie we already have