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Shortage of AMD graphics chip hits PC vendors
By siliconindia
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Monday, 09 November 2009, 15:30 IST |
3 Comments
Sunnyvale: An offshore Advanced Micro Devices' (AMD) foundry is having problems to ramp up production of a new 40-nanometer (nm) graphics processing unit, forcing PC makers to delay shipments of desktop and laptop computers, AMD confirmed.
The Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC) is struggling to get up to speed manufacturing AMD's 5800 series, 40-nm GPUs (graphics processing units), says Jim McGregor, an Analyst at research firm In-Stat. He added that the foundry is in full production but so far yields are below expectation.
Matt Davis, a spokesman for AMD, confirmed to Computerworld that TSMC is having issues in ramping up production of the chips. He added that it's not clear how far behind the foundry is on production expectations. "The design is sound. It's just a matter of trying to get TSMC to a point where they can yield. They're feeling the manufacturing crunch," said Davis.
Davis said that PC vendors are being affected, but declined to say how many vendors are feeling the pinch or which ones. "It's the end of the whip," he added. "The vendors are going to have a hard time." Davis also said AMD is working with TSMC on the issue and hopes to have production up to speed by year's end.
"They haven't been producing these chips for long, so you'd expect some ramp issues," said McGregor. "AMD is being affected because these are great parts and they're getting a lot of demand. They're getting a huge swing on this. When you have more demand for a product than expected and lower yields than expected, you get the perfect storm," adds McGregor.
McGregor said AMD has little time to get manufacturing in line before PC vendors start looking for better options and turn to a graphics chip from rival Nvidia. "It's not something you can move away from overnight. They could switch over to Nvidia but it would take some effort. They could switch. It will all depend on how bad the shortage gets," adds McGregor.
Dan Olds, Principal Analyst at research firm Gabriel Consulting Group, said that if projections of slow tech sales, especially of high-end products, hold true, AMD should survive the production slowdown rather well. If the economy was strong, and buyers were clamoring for desktops and laptops, a production slowdown would significantly hurt the struggling AMD.