Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC) plans to boost its R&D spending to a record US$2.2 billion in 2016, according to company co-CEO Mark Liu. Speaking to TSMC's annual technology forum that was held on May 26 in Hsinchu, Taiwan, Liu said that TSMC will be the industry's first chipmaker to have its 7nm process technology certified, adding that TSMC's 7nm currently has 30-40% yield for 128MB SRAM.

As for 10nm, TSMC is scheduled to move the node technology to volume production by 2017, Liu indicated. TSMC will fabricate 10nm chips at the Phase-5 and 6 facilities at Fab 15, the foundry's 12-inch wafer fab in central Taiwan.

TSMC also expects to complete customers’ qualifications for its advanced 7-nanometer (nm) technology in the first quarter next year, outpacing its major competitors such s Samsung and Intel.

That might pave the way for the chipmaker to ramp up the production of 7nm chips in the first quarter of 2018.

Samsung is reportedly to receive customer’s qualification for its 7nm technology in the second half of next year, lagging behind its Taiwanese peer by about three quarters.

Liu said TSMC achieves a stable yield rate on its 7nm technology. The yield rate for 7nm SRAM chips reaches between 30 and 40 percent, he said.

There are 20 customers currently in intensive design engagement with the company for 7nm technology, TSMC said.

TSMC has also been developing its specialty process technologies, such as 55nm and 40nm ULP processes targeted at IoT and wireless MCU applications. Shipments of chips built using TSMC's specialty processes grew 21% in 2015 with the growth outpacing TSMC's overall shipment increase.

Liu underined the importance of automotive electronics and IoT markets. Artificial intelligence (AI), virtual reality (VR) and 3D image capture will also drive future semiconductor market growth.

TSMC aims to improve design productivity and shorten design cycles, and reduce product time to market. In 2015, TSMC worked with about 470 customers producing more than 8,900 types of products. With 220 production technologies, TSMC processed more than 8.7 million wafers in 2015 with total shipments exceeding one billion chips.