With the current stock issues plaguing graphics cards, AMD’s manufacturing partner, TSMC, is at capacity, reportedly forcing the company to consider what’s more profitable: accepting excess demand with a lack of stock or outsourcing to Samsung’s own process in order to extend the production of its graphics cards and APUs by up to 50%.
This rumour came from South Korean hardware forum Clien.net (via Guru3D). We’d always take comments from open forums with a pinch of salt, although the poster in question has been correct several times in the past. Until AMD comments on the matter, this is just speculation, however the rumour is corroborated by Apple recently booking up a significant amount of 5nm chips at TSMC, which will aid the switch to its in-house ARM chips on upcoming Mac desktops and put further strain on chip capacity for all TSMC partners.
Including a new process in the mix might seem like a no-brainer if it alleviates current stock woes, but it’s not as simple as enlisting more help. It’s a costly action and could prove to be risky for AMD’s profit margin, but if it pays off it could potentially put the red team at a significant advantage over Nvidia.
On the other hand, Nvidia has said that its GPU stock should stabilise in April, and AMD has given a similar timeframe.
So, no matter what happens, putting together the best gaming PC build might only take a few more months unless any more unforeseen obstacles get in the way.