TSMC has completed development and technical validation of its A16 semiconductor process and is expected to begin mass production in the fourth quarter of 2026. The 1.6-nanometer-class CMOS platform is the company's first angstrom-class process to feature Super Power Rail, or SPR, a backside power-delivery architecture that separates signal routing from power routing to ease wiring bottlenecks. Reports comparing A16 with TSMC's 2-nanometer process cite 8% to 10% higher computing speed, 15% to 20% lower energy consumption and an 8% to 10% increase in chip density. Earlier TSMC comparisons with its enhanced N2P process used the same ranges and specified the gains at equivalent power or performance levels. A16 is positioned as a transitional technology toward TSMC's 1.4-nanometer A14 process, which is targeted for mass production in 2028, while the company is also expanding advanced-process and packaging capacity amid strong AI-chip demand and CoWoS constraints.