AMD is said to be planning a new strategy to diversify its production capacities by turning to Samsung. This strategy would initially be applied to entry-level processors for desktops and notebooks, and would gradually be extended to Radeon GPUs. Bonus: by choosing Samsung and its 4nm manufacturing process, AMD could also make some substantial savings compared to what it was paying at TSMC. This isn’t the first time there’s been talk of AMD teaming up with Samsung for its production. But the reds have never taken the plunge… Perhaps the memory of Nvidia’s misadventures weighed heavily on the final decision.
AMD wants to diversify its production: Samsung back on the agenda
For years now, AMD has depended exclusively on TSMC for its CPU and GPU production. In the opinion of many observers, the use of more advanced etching processes will once again create tensions with two customers in a position of strength: Apple and Nvidia.
By releasing part of its production to another foundry, AMD could find additional production capacity at TSMC. For its part, Samsung is looking for customers after chaotic episodes in its drive to offer its foundry services. The Korean company offers several variants of its 4 nm node, including SF4E, SF4, SF4P and soon SF4X and SF4A. The SF4P or SF4A node will probably be used for the production of Ryzen/Athlon APUs and Radeon GPUs. Obviously, Samsung is trying to drive the point home by being more aggressive on the pricing of its services…which suits AMD’s business, which for the moment is content to “have a taste”, entrusting only rather low-end products to Korean foundries.
In this story, AMD had planned to entrust Samsung with the production of APUs for the PS5 Pro… But the reds have changed their minds and adopted a more cautious plan.
