✦ The Angstrom Roadmap: N2, A16 & A14Narrow moat

TSMC publishes its future the way railroads once published timetables: N2 in volume now, A16 arriving with Super Power Rail — backside power delivery that frees the wafer's front for logic — ready in 2026 with volume production in 2027, A14 in 2028, its backside-power variant A14P in 2029, and A12 and A13 already announced for decade's end, deliberately without betting on High-NA EUV¹. The company's own page promises A16 delivers 8-10% more speed or 15-20% less power than N2P².

The A16 slip from 2026 to 2027 volume is worth reading honestly: even the best manufacturer on earth is finding the angstrom era stubborn, and each node now costs a fab's worth of capital before a wafer sells. But the competitive context is what makes this a widening bet rather than a wobbling one — Samsung's yields still trail, Intel's 18A serves mostly Intel, and every AI chip that matters is queued for N2 and A16 regardless of the exact quarter they arrive. Watch the N2 ramp's yield trajectory and whether A16 holds its revised 2027 date; in this business the roadmap is the moat, and slips are the only crack it can develop.