I'm very familiar with this company, TSMC (and Phoenix, AKA "the Silicon Desert"). My old company partnered with them to design and develop integrated circuits. My job was testing their R&D wafers at probe level (I received and tested whole, un-cut up wafers), and reporting out the data to the Scientists to be made into computer models for the circuit designers to predict the behaviors prior to being built in the wafer fab.
These models have cut years from development times, and greatly sped up the eventual release to consumers.
The "number of wafers per month" is actually not a simple measure of output. Over the 25 years I did this, wafers have increased in size from 50mm (2 inches) to 300mm (12 inches). That represents a huge increase in surface real estate by a factor of 36. A better, but not perfect measure of output is how many
ICs are produced in a month.
As an aside, because of my long work with computer models, I detest what's being done in the name of computer modeling. The shysters have totally debased my life's work, so now the ignorant public thinks all computer models are trickery. Companies like my old firm have to have accurate models that produce accurate predictions isn't a matter of fudging models to come to a pre-determined outcome, but a matter of improving speed to market. If you aren't first, you are last and will only reap dribs and drabs of market share, primarily as a second-source.
@Elderberry @DB
