Semiconductor Industry Evolution

The number of players with leading-edge manufacturing capabilities has decreased from 26 in the 130nm era of 2002-2003 to just 3 in the 7nm era of 2020-2022.

What is a semi manufacturer, also known as a semi fab? A semi fabrication plant, or "fab", is a factory where devices like integrated circuits are manufactured.

Moore's Law, which states that the number of transistors on an integrated circuit doubles approximately every two years, has driven the reduction in nodes from 130nm to 7nm.

Early technology nodes like 130nm were used in products such as early mobile phones and basic computing devices (think bulky, slow, and less advanced). Modern nodes though, like 7nm, are used in advanced electronics, including high-performance processors for the smartphones that we use today.

As of 2022, only three companies, Intel, Samsung, and TSMC, remain that are capable of producing at the 7nm technology node.