Photo: TSMC
Tesla may be replacing Samsung’s hardware 3 (HW3) chips with a large order from supplier Taiwanese Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. (TSMC), according to a report from local outlet Economic Daily on Monday.
The rumor has not yet been confirmed or denied and both TSMC and Tesla declined to comment on the matter.
The report states that Tesla will become one of TSMC’s top seven customers in 2023, and that the company’s chips will be a part of a new generation of fully-automatic driving assistance chips for its Full Self-Driving (FSD) beta.
TSMC Expects Auto Chip Shortage to Slow This Quarter https://t.co/0HsUTChOLw
— TeslaNorth.com (@RealTeslaNorth) July 15, 2021
Tesla’s HW3 chips were originally produced by Samsung at 14nm, though they were later improved to a 7nm size. Now, Tesla is reportedly looking to switch to 4 and 5nm chips and will reportedly work with TSMC on volume production of the next generation of semiconductor chips.
Previously, Samsung has provided the bulk of Tesla’s FSD chips, though the report says next year’s Autopilot and FSD beta chips will come from TSMC in both 4- and 5-nanometer configurations.
Samsung also provides Tesla’s next-generation 4680 batteries, though reports of TSMC supplying chips for the automaker date back to 2020.
Last September, a report from Korean Economic Daily said that Tesla would use Samsung to manufacture its HW4 chips instead of TSMC.
