At the Open Innovation Platform Ecosystem Forum, TSMC outlined its near-term roadmap, highlighting how increasing AI workloads are intensifying the node development and balance between performance and efficiency. The company announced that N2 is now in volume production and expects N2P to ramp up in early 2026. TSMC aims to deliver initial A16 parts, which combine nanosheet transistors with a rear-side Super Power Rail (SPR), by the end of 2026. The progression of nodes moves from N3 to nanosheet-based N2, then to A16 with SPR, and eventually to the more advanced A14 node.

TSMC provided data showing a performance increase of about 1.8x when transitioning from N7 to A14 at constant power, along with an overall efficiency improvement of approximately 4.2x over the same period. For A16, the company predicts clock speeds 8-10% higher than N2P at the same voltage, while reducing energy consumption by 15-20% for similar throughput. For those wanting to remain on FinFET, enhanced FinFET options like N3C and N4C are still available, with N4C already in use by customers. TSMC also highlighted NanoFlex, a cell-level tuning method introduced with N2, which allows design teams to balance speed and efficiency. This approach can achieve 15% frequency gains or energy reductions of up to 30% in suitable designs.