Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. (TSMC,) the world's no.1 contract chipmaker, is testing advanced 7-nanometer chips for 12 customers and plans to start mass production in the first half of 2018.

Speaking at the company's annual technology symposium on May 25, TSMC's co-Chief Executive C.C. Wei "responded" to Samung' s recent anouncements related to its chip process roadmap, and said that TSMC is well-prepared to face intensifying competition from the South Korean company.

"We will always be the most trusted technology and capacity provider for customers for many years to come," said Wei.

The executive also reaffirmed that his company will introduce the world's first 5-nanometer chip in the second quarter of 2019.

Earlier this year, TSMC said it had asked a team to research 3-nanometer chips.

Wei added that TSMC's research and development spending for 2017 will be an "astonishing" amount and larger than that in 2016, without disclosing the exact figure.

Wei's remarks came hours after Samsung announced in a statement plans to build advanced chips using 8-nanometer, 7-nanometer, 6-nanometer, 5 nanometer, and also 4-nanometer process technology.

Samsung Electronics will boost and spin off its foundry unit that makes chips for others. The move is widely believed to be part of Samsung's efforts to gain more orders from global tech giants such as Apple, Nvidia and Qualcomm.

Apple will adopt TSMC's 10-nanometer chips for iPhone's upcoming 10th anniversary range.