AMD has decided that Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC) is not going to get its order to supply its next generation of graphics processors. That's according to a report which a source close to the action in Taiwan tells TechEye is "total b*******". Or crap, for short.
AMD is gearing up for a wave of GPUs using its 28nm process. Traditionally it has always gone to TSMC for to make them. The outfit has collected orders for its 40nm and 65nm GPUs.
But according to the Chinese-language Economic Daily News report, AMD has decided to use its divested GlobalFoundries' (GloFo) spin off instead.
It is not as if TSMC does not have the technology in place. It has already got contract orders for 28nm products from Altera, Fujitsu, Qualcomm, and Xilinx.
It has also spend a lot of dosh bringing in three HKMG processes, 28HP, 28HPM and 28HPL, and one conventional SiON process, 28LP. It started moving to volume production in June.
As you would expect neither AMD nor TSMC is talking about the shift. The Economic Daily News has refused to name its sauces too.
However, if it is true, and we're pretty certain it isn't, it indicates that AMD wants to lean more heavily on its GloFo spin off and less on outsourced partners in the Far East. While not exactly keeping the project in house, AMD does benefit from having a healthy GloFo . But its fabs do not use the 28nm process. GloFo is building a new 28nm wafer plant near New York which will come online in 2012.
It's in AMD's best interest to have two partners, and it certainly can't afford to antagonise TSMC. TSMC is currently fabbing AMD's Fusion Ontario processor - that's a key element in its future strategy. TSMC was not available to comment at press time.
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You do wonder what damage the technical difficulties caused by the last shrink and the resulting production shortfall caused to relations.
And GloFo Fab 8 Module 1 will be running 28nm? News to me, and I've been keeping close tabs on them; the site is just up the street from me.
Another reason, is that you should always have an avenue in case of (perceived) production bottlenecks.
I'm pretty sure, though, that nVidia wasn't "invited" to fabricate their chips at GloFo, that's not how the process works. GloFo advertises by various means that it has, or will soon have, certain capabilities, and may contact certain potential customers to see if there is any interest, but as far as nVidia having to wait for an invitation? Don't think so. nVidia will make the decision whether to "invite" GloFo to provide nVidia with a proposal.
The buyer always decides if they want to do business with the seller. The seller generally will at least, welcome all potential customers. You don't stay successful in business by turning potential customers away from the door without even hearing what they want. You may not be able to provide what they want, or can't do it profitably, but you don't just make an emotional judgment not to do business with certain firms because you "don't like them". You may add a "difficult" customer factor into your pricing, but you never say "no".
Fondumentally, someones decide into 55 nm to 40 nm process to negate high k to low k developement pattern. like two antenas, side by side, each interferring with other, NO solution, as NO way to predict variation at any single point in time.
Taking Whole New Fab to just start over. If any massive failure occurs in route to bulldozer & lianno, well, curtains. In mean time, How LOW will AMD go. Shurely theBULL will hiphop AMD if successful. Broad Market, yet again, prepare to make 4X on money or Dive. Next Year Thingee'.
as far as 28nm goes, maybe AMD out skunked own engineering with present nm bust.
vondrashek md