7nm manufacturing lines from TSMC, Samsung, and GlobalFoundries are all expected to be up and running next year , ready to roll out more efficient processors and other ICs for next generation products. Intel is running slightly behind, but is also investing heavily in the node. This shrink down to smaller and smaller transistors has also led to a contraction in the number of players participating in the race to more compact chips, as the costs of research, development, and manufacturing equipment continues to increase. Nevertheless, that hasn’t deterred some silicon manufacturers from investing huge sums in research to reach even smaller transistor sizes. 7nm may not be arriving until next year, but the race for 4nm is already underway. TSMC, which is leading the way with 7nm, is targeting trial production of its 5nm process sometime in 2019 , although it could be 2020 or later before we see any commercial chips. GlobalFoundries is right behind TSMC on 7nm, but appears...