EUV lithography reaches volume production
2019ASML / TSMC
TSMC's 7nm+ became the first high-volume node using ASML's extreme-ultraviolet machines — the tool that unlocked everything below 7nm.
All fields
Leading-Edge Chips
Who leads the race to the smallest, densest chips?
Live Updated 2025-12
Distance to goal
The single most intuitive view — current position against the end goal, on a log scale.
Leading node in volume production
Metric detailnow
2nm
TSMC (N2)
goal
~0.0 orders of magnitude to go
Headline indicators
Who leads
Standings by actor, within this field only.
Milestone timeline
Clear-cut events: crossed or not crossed.
5 achieved 0 in progress 1 locked
First gate-all-around (GAA) node
2022-06Samsung
Samsung's 3nm was the first to ship GAA transistors, the architecture now succeeding FinFET at the frontier.
HBM3E ships for AI accelerators
2024SK hynix
High-bandwidth memory became the other scarce frontier part, with SK hynix leading supply for AI GPUs.
2nm-class volume production begins
2025-12TSMC / Samsung / Intel
All three leaders entered 2nm-class volume in 2025 (TSMC N2 in Q4); demand outstrips supply, with long foundry waitlists.
Backside power delivery reaches volume
2025-11Intel (18A)
Intel's 18A brought PowerVia backside power to a volume node — a structural change rivals are still adopting.
1.4nm-class node in volume
~ 2028+—
The next frontier (TSMC A14, Intel 14A, Samsung SF1.4), with High-NA EUV — targeted around 2028, not yet here.
Related news & analysis
Analysis 2026-02-03
Who's actually winning the foundry race? TSMC holds ~two-thirds of the market and the yield lead; Intel is betting its comeback on 18A; Samsung trails on yield. Our read on a race where one player's dominance keeps compounding. (Our opinion, not investment advice.) Explainer 2026-01-27
Why leading-edge fabs are a chokepoint A single advanced fab costs $20–30B and depends on EUV machines only ASML makes. That brutal economics narrows the frontier to a handful of firms — and makes leading-edge capacity one of the world's true chokepoints. Explainer 2026-01-20
What "2nm" really means No part of a "2nm" chip is 2 nanometers. Node names are marketing labels, not physical measurements — so we read them alongside transistor density and who is actually shipping in volume. i
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