rtb001 t1_iwgov0f wrote
Reply to comment by frostnxn in AMD Now Powers 101 of the World's Fastest Supercomputers by Avieshek
Also I think in hindsight, AMD spinning off global foundries was a really good move. Maybe at the time it was because AMD didn't have to money to keep and maintain their own fab, so they had to become a contract manufacturer. However in later years we would see that not having their own fab meant AMD could be agile about the design of their next gen PC and server chips. So long as TSMC or Samsung could make it, then AMD can design it. But Intel was forced to only make chip designs that can be made to a good yield in their own fabs.
sultry_eyes t1_iy5dvg4 wrote
This is because of the two emerging markets.
NAND Flash
Mobile Phones
and Tablets/Phablets
The tablet is somewhat like a phone and a laptop but not either.
Intel and NVIDIA were already in their own respective markets. CPU and GPU.
AMD was in between CPU&GPU and IBM no longer made great Console chips. See Sony Cell Processor (poor performing difficult to program) and Xbox 360 red ring of death issues.
There suddenly needed to be a fab that could fill the gap for the emerging mobile phone sector. Intel failed and failed HARD in this market. They could not pivot to mobile phones.
Samsung and TSMC however did not fail. And NAND Flash is necessary in order for mobile phones to store the amount of data that they store.
This new market heavily funded both Samsung and TSMC to the point where TSMC is able encroach on Intel's heavy data center customers. Before this those customers were mostly Intel as they were the most reliable as opposed to 2010s AMD. Back then you would be laughed out of the room if you remotely mentioned going with an AMD system.
They had a very tiny laptop (mobile) segment.
Desktops, Servers, and Laptops were all Intel. And that made sense for them to stick to just that and not pivot into the new and emerging mobile phone market/segments.
And yeah hindsight is 20/20 and all that. Now it is Samsung and TSMC with heavy mobile segment growth. And because they are capital rich, they are encroaching into Intel's territory faster than Intel can pivot to theirs.
Intel Foundry won't fire up until 2025. And even then, we will see how many customers they can win back. (Just Qualcomm and Apple pretty much).
I can see Apple wanting to diversify their suppliers from TSMC. Apple makes most of what Intel and TSMC can sell. Smartphone, watches, iPad/Tablets, laptop and desktop chips.
Qualcomm just sells many many mobile phone CPU/GPUs so they may go with Intel if priced correctly.
I don't see anyone dethroning Samsung from their NAND flash memory business. They are pretty good at that. And the is demand for that type of storage.
HDD manufacturers appear content with pumping out 10TB+ drives forever. No change and no one clamoring for big changes there.
Viewing a single comment thread. View all comments