AMD Diversifies Supply Chain with Samsung’s 4nm Node for Zen 5c Die Production
In a surprising move, AMD has chosen to tap into Samsung’s 4nm node capacity to mass produce its Zen 5c dies, marking a significant shift in its single-foundry strategy. The company will now split its Zen 5c production between TSMC and Samsung, leveraging the latter for the “basic” variants of the Prometheus die. This move signals AMD’s first attempt at diversifying its supply chain, a strategy previously adopted by rival NVIDIA.
While TSMC has been AMD’s primary foundry partner since the introduction of the Zen architecture in 2019, this new development marks a departure from the chipmaker’s previous approach. The decision to utilize Samsung’s 4nm node, a significant shift from the more advanced 3nm-class node at TSMC, comes as a surprise. This move also mirrors AMD’s previous manufacturing strategy for RDNA 3 GPUs, which were produced across different process nodes.
The decision to diversify its supply chain indicates AMD’s willingness to explore new opportunities and technologies. By leveraging Samsung’s 4nm node, the company aims to maintain performance and efficiency advantages while broadening its production capabilities.
Notably, Apple is the only client to utilize TSMC’s 3nm capacity, indicating the competitive nature of securing foundry production at cutting-edge nodes. With Samsung’s 4nm node leveraging Gate All Around (GAA) transistors in contrast to TSMC’s 3nm nodes using FinFET technology, it remains to be seen how this decision will impact AMD’s overall production and performance.
This shift reflects the evolving landscape of the semiconductor industry, as foundries and chipmakers continue to explore new partnerships and technologies to maintain a competitive edge.
Source: DigiTimes.
