11/05, 1:55pm
AMD facing ATI Radeon GPU shortages
PC vendors that rely on AMD graphics cards are delaying their shipments scheduled for the first quarter of 2010 by nearly two months, say sources at the manufacturers, DigiTimes claimed on Thursday. Radeon HD 5000-series GPUs and HD 4000-series GPUs are reportedly facing shortages through a combination of factors. The shortage of the 40nm Radeon HD 5000 cards is due to a low yield at Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC) 40nm factories, while the 4000-series GPUs scarcity is allegedly AMD's own doing as it has scaled back production of older technology after releasing the more advanced 40nm parts.
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09/16, 8:10am
ARM preps 2GHz Cortex A9
ARM this morning said it as developed a 2GHz, dual-core version of its Cortex-A9 architecture. The new design is intended to be built on a newer 40 nanometer (nm) manufacturing process and so achieves the added speed without consuming much if any extra power versus slower parts; ARM estimates just 0.25W per CPU. The design is pitched as ideal for particularly fast home devices that still need either to fit into tight spaces or to use little energy.
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07/07, 8:45am
NVIDIA 40nm GPUs in Sept
NVIDIA's first graphics chipsets based on a new 40 nanometer manufacturing process could be available by the start of the fall, a newspaper claimed on Tuesday. Taiwan's Commercial Times says the GeForce GT 220 and G210 are due to ship in late September. The story supports notions of a delay and says TSMC, which manufactures NVIDIA's chipsets, had initially suffered from poor yields of the 40nm parts but has since recovered and can supply enough for the last quarter of the year.
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04/14, 8:00am
2009 iPhone Supplier Leak
The companies responsible for manufacturing parts in the next major iPhone release have potentially been named by industry contacts of DigiTimes that also predict ship dates and numbers. The Taiwan-area site reinforces its previous claim that OmniVision is making a 3.2-megapixel sensor for the Apple handset's camera and now says that Largan Precision is making the rest of the imaging unit. Infineon is continuing to provide the cellular baseband (likely upgraded to 7.2Mbps 3G) as well as the GPS chipset.
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03/17, 4:35pm
Wi-Fi chip shortage
Healthy netbook sales in China, India and other emerging markets for Realtek Semiconductor have the networking IC designer increasing its 802.11n Wi-Fi chip orders, spurring a shortage manufacturers Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC) and United Microelectronics Corporation (UMC), according to a report in the Taiwan-area Commercial Times newspaper. Realtek has reportedly ordered one fifth more Wi-Fi chips in March than in February, and the shortage will last until June, according to a Chinese Commerical Times story. More than 8,000 Wi-Fi chip orders will be ordered in the second quarter.
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03/02, 2:55pm
Intel TSMC Deal Official
Intel today confirmed details of its reported deal with TSMC (Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company). The memorandum between the two companies will see Intel port the Atom processor's design techniques, patents, software libraries and other processes to TSMC's manufacturing base. Both of the partners see it as a mutually beneficial deal that gives Intel a foothold in TSMC's manufacturing while expanding TSMC's options.
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03/02, 9:55am
Intel and TSMC Deal Soon
The Taipei Times today claims today that Intel is poised to begin a rare outsourcing of manufacturing for its technology. The semiconductor company will announce later today that it will start handing off some production from its own factories to Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC) in an attempt to trim costs. Which parts are specifically involved aren't known, though the plans are believed related to Mobile Internet Devices (MIDs) and may include both the Atom processors needed for this class of handheld as well as the NAND flash memory that serves as their permanent storage.
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01/13, 7:30am
iPhone nano June Rumor
Taiwan-area newspaper Economic Daily News today claims that Apple is lining up chip suppliers for its heavily rumored iPhone nano. The report believes that both the well-known chip contracting firm Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company as well as United Microelectronics Corporation are "likely" to get the nod for manufacturing unspecified chips for the cellphone in March with the aim of an actual product launch in June or later.
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12/24, 3:35pm
AMD, NVIDIA 40nm chips
AMD's RV740 GPU chip based on the 40nm manufacturing process is now reportedly finished its design cycle and is ready to be sent out to manufacturing plants, according to a Wednesday report. AMD will begin mass producing the RV740 at the Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC), which also makes chips for other companies, by the end of the first quarter of 2009. Around the same time, competitor NVIDIA is also due to complete its tape-out of the 40nm GT212 GPU, with mass production also due to begin in the second quarter.
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05/27, 3:50pm
TSMC raises chip pricing
The industry's biggest in independent contract chip manufacturer, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co, announced Tuesday it is considering raising prices for higher-performance chips due to the rising costs of doing business. While the supplier hasn’t announced which chips will face the price hike or how much prices would go up, its many customers, including ATI, NVIDIA and VIA, would likewise adjust their prices to reflect the change to the public at large.
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