Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing (TSMC) is now mass-producing chips using cutting-edge technology that reduces battery drain in devices and cuts costs, the company said Wednesday.Several contract chip makers have been vying for bragging rights in delivering chips made using 65-nanometer technology to customers, including TSMC, United Microelectronics (UMC) and Singapore’s Chartered Semiconductor Manufacturing. The holy grail for the companies is mass production, which cuts costs dramatically, but it’s hard to do. The technology is new, and only a few companies globally have mastered it for volume production, including Intel and Texas Instruments.The term nanometer refers to the size of the transistors and other parts that are etched onto the chips. By shrinking these components, companies are helping meet user demands for longer battery life in smaller, affordable gadgets. The advance to 65-nanometer marks an improvement over larger 90-nanometer sizes. A nanometer is one-millionth of a millimeter. TSMC, the world’s largest contract chip maker, said it had “several” chip products in volume production at its factories, but declined to name its customers. The company has already delivered chips made using 65-nanometer technology to several customers for qualification, including Qualcomm, Broadcom, Freescale Semiconductor and Altera, which are all based in the United States. The company’s main rival in the global contract chip industry, UMC, has been working with a few customers on 65-nanometer chips, including networking chip developer Xilinx Chartered, which ranks third by revenue in the chip foundry business, has produced samples for Infineon Technologies using 65-nanometer production technology, and will make chips for Advanced Micro Devices using the technology in the future.-Dan Nystedt, IDG News Service Check out our CIO News Alerts and Tech Informer pages for more updated news coverage. Related content brandpost Sponsored by AWS in collaboration with IBM How digital twin technology is changing complex industrial processes forever As the use cases for digital twins proliferate, it is becoming clear that data-driven enterprises with a track record of innovation stand the best chance of success. By Laura McEwan Dec 05, 2023 4 mins Digital Transformation brandpost Sponsored by AWS in collaboration with IBM Why modernising applications needs to be a ‘must’ for businesses seeking growth Around one-third of enterprises are spending heavily on application modernisation and aiming for cloud native status. The implications for corporate culture, structure and priorities will be profound. By Laura McEwan Dec 05, 2023 5 mins Digital Transformation opinion 11 ways to reduce your IT costs now Reorienting IT’s budget toward future opportunities is a big reason why CIOs should review their IT portfolios with an eye toward curbing unnecessary spending and realizing maximum value from every IT investment. By Stephanie Overby Dec 05, 2023 11 mins Budget Cloud Management IT Governance news analysis SAP faces breakdown in trust over innovation plans The company’s plan to offer future innovations in S/4HANA only to subscribers of its Rise with SAP offering is alienating customers, user conference hears. By Peter Sayer Dec 05, 2023 6 mins SAP Cloud Management Innovation Podcasts Videos Resources Events SUBSCRIBE TO OUR NEWSLETTER From our editors straight to your inbox Get started by entering your email address below. Please enter a valid email address Subscribe