In May, a rumor claimed that AMD could make its next-generation 4nm semiconductors chips using Samsung Foundry rather than TSMC. Earlier this month, a report claimed that Samsung Foundry received orders for 4nm semiconductors for data center applications. Although the report didn't mention the customer's name, the word on the street was that it was AMD. Well, AMD CEO Lisa Su has now denied those claims.
Last week, Lisa Su visited Taiwan to meet the company's partners and employees. During a press conference, a journalist asked the CEO if the rumors about AMD shifting from TSMC to Samsung Foundry for next-generation 4nm chips were true. In response to the question, Lisa asked the reporters if they really believed in Korean media outlets. She denied all the rumors about AMD ditching TSMC in favor of Samsung Foundry for next-generation 4nm chips once and for all.
She also said that AMD's upcoming semiconductor for data centers, the MI300, wouldn't have been possible without TSMC as it has “high complexity,” suggesting that only TSMC could make those chips, not Samsung Foundry. “We will continue to work with our Taiwanese partners because we cannot launch this product without good partners like TSMC,” Lisa added, stressing that TSMC is really important for AMD. Reportedly, she implied that AMD could not damage its relationship with TSMC to compete with Nvidia.
Reportedly, Samsung Foundry has increased the yield of the 4nm fabrication process to 75%, and it plans to drop the defect rate below 25% by the end of this year. The company is also working on lowering the defect rate of semiconductors manufactured on the 3nm fabrication process below 40% before the end of 2023. These achievements are said to attract orders from Nvidia and Qualcomm for their next-generation semiconductors. We hope these rumors don't turn out to be false.
