It’s not the desktop or laptop consumer’s CPU that’s the issue. It’s the GPU that is, even in consumer products. CPU more or less got ‘fast enough’ for Intel around 9-10th gen. (Though AMD and Apple both have blown *way* past Intel since, they use TSMC as their fab.) GPU... that’s where a lot of market demand is at and consumers need/want the power.
In military and AI applications... we need all the power we can get.
Thanks. You are right lower and lower nm is more crucial for discrete gpu for gaming and AI done with desktop GPU video cards. Also for chips that go into AI data centers. Now google has its own AI chips Tensor/TPU that are competitive with Nvidia AI chips for use in data centers. TSMC made.