AMD won't want to use Intel fabs, but it might be tempted to
TSMC is the leading-edge contract foundry that has helped AMD regain its place at the top table of PC processing, in both its CPU and graphics card divisions. It's also fed Apple, Nvidia, and now even Intel, with advanced manufacturing processes and propped up a whole slew of next-gen products, including the latest games consoles from Sony and Microsoft.
And it's announced a potential delay that may just put it well behind the competition in the silicon node race, encouraging those customers to start considering whether Intel's own contract foundry is worth a punt.
So yes, AMD chips built by Intel fabs? It's possible however unlikely that might sound. I mean, Nvidia is reportedly in talks to use Intel's foundry services in the future.
The report on Seeking Alpha, titled 'Taiwan Semiconductor is likely finished' is definitely too strong, and probably tainted by the fact the author is an Intel bull, holding a long-term stake in the company. But the points it makes about a year-long delay to its future N2 node would surely make for concerning reading if you're relying on TSMC for your future silicon dreams.
It's worth noting that, unlike Intel, TSMC doesn't generally share its roadmap, and has been particularly quiet about its N2 (2nm) node. But we were expecting the N3 node—the last to use the classic FinFET transistor technology used so well in all current PC hardware—to launch in 2022, though now that's expected to only be used in products in 2023.
That does still depend on TSMC getting the tools to build chips for companies already signed up to the N3 process, however. There are reportedly issues with delivery of these tools, and though TSMC CEO, C C Wei, has said «we hope that we won't have any big issue» in the
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