GoKawiilTSMC revealed its general manufacturing technology roadmap through 2029 at its North American Technology Symposium 2026 on Wednesday. Among the key highlights the company presented were its 1.2nm and 1.3nm-class fabrication processes called A12 and A13, an unexpected extension of the N2 family named N2U, and the lack of plans to use High-NA EUV lithography for any nodes through 2029. Perhaps the most notable part of the technology-related announcement was firming the multi-faceted approach to new node development.
"Last year we announced A14 as our most advanced, 2nd Generation nanosheet technology, scheduled for production in 2028," said Kevin Zhang, senior vice president of business development and global sales and deputy COO at TSMC.
"This year, we are introducing derivatives of A14, including A13 and A12, both planned for production in 2029. A13 is an incremental enhancement of A14 achieved primarily through optical shrink, delivering about 6% area reduction while maintaining full design-rule and electrical compatibility, enabling customers to benefit with minimal redesign."
Changing the rules of the game
Historically the lion's share of TSMC's revenue originated from the smartphone industry, but more recently AI and HPC have outpaced handsets. This was clearly reflected in the company's plans, so TSMC's latest roadmap highlighted a deliberately bifurcated strategy that segments leading-edge nodes by end-market requirements rather than pursuing a one-size-fits-all approach. As a result, the company is adopting a new strategy for process technology introductions in which it will continue to offer a new node for client applications every year and will roll-out a new node for heavy-duty AI and HPC applications every two years.
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(Image credit: TSMC)
On one hand, processes like N2, N2P, N2U, A14, and A13 are aimed at smartphones and client devices — where costs, power efficiency, and IP reuse are crucial and strong design compatibility is welcome, while incremental improvements can be tolerated as long as TSMC can deliver a new node every year.
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