TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. (TSMC) will reportedly increase prices for its cutting-edge 3nm process to around US$20,000 (NT$624,290) per wafer.

According to DigiTimes, one processed wafer for the Taiwanese chipmaker’s 3nm process could reportedly set customers back about US$20,000. For comparison, TSMC’s 5nm process wafers cost in the ballpark of US$16,000.

The high cost of production, in addition to the long time it takes to manufacture cutting edge chips help explain the sticker shock, according to Tom’s Hardware. Both TSMC’s 5nm and 3nm processes use considerable extreme ultraviolet (EUV) lithography, with each EUV machine running around US$150 million, and several EUV scanners are needed in one fab, Tom’s Hardware noted.

Apple is expected to be TSMC’s first customer to use its 3nm chips, per Tom’s Hardware. Apple has yet to say which of its upcoming processors will use the latest 3nm silicon.

TSMC only discloses wafer prices to actual customers, while big orders from Apple, Nvidia, and AMD are likely to be lower than the prices noted by DigiTimes, which were gathered from industry insiders. In addition, TSMC has not commented on the US$20,000 wafer prices listed in the DigiTimes report.