Re:TSMC to begin 3nm chip production next month
by selectodude on Thursday August 18, 2022 @11:29AM
(#32511008)
A chip manufacturer absolutely could. Apple runs higher margins so they are willing to spend what it costs to get the bleeding edge stuff. Their customers appreciate the bleeding edge stuff and are willing to spend more to get it.
It isn't like Samsung and AMD can't afford to jump on new nodes, they just won't be able to raise their prices enough for it to make sense to them.
Re:TSMC to begin 3nm chip production next month
by Jensson on Thursday August 18, 2022 @11:34AM
(#32511074)
They can't, Apple has a contract to get all current supply, TSMC can't sell anything to AMD even if AMD paid more than Apple since they don't have any more to sell. They will get more to sell in a few years, but today they don't, you would have to go and convince Apple to sell their supply to you.
Re:TSMC to begin 3nm chip production next month
by selectodude on Thursday August 18, 2022 @12:11PM
(#32511555)
AMD has every right and ability to offer TSMC money for slices of that exclusivity. We know this because Huawei split exclusivity with Apple for the first batches of N5 back in 2020. I imagine it cost them a lot of money.
There are multiple fabricators (supply) and a small pool of chip manufacturers (demand).
As a chip manufacturer, I cannot go out and buy competitive silicon. I can't even get last-gen silicon. The best you can get is an improved 7nm node from Samsung, but nobody wants to run their CPU on the blood and guts of Exynos chips. So, by definition, I'd say that Apple has monopolized the cutting-edge lithography business through leveraging a partner.