AMD Won't Get a Third Foundry Partner

Aiming to place the last of the rumors to rest, AMD has gone on record and has clearly stated that the company doesn't intend to enlist the services of a third foundry.

At present, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company and Globalfoundries make chips for the Sunnyvale, California-based company.

Even so, though, 28nm chips aren't in great supply, which is a problem if the release of Kabini and Temash/Tamesh will really happen six months earlier.

Nevertheless, AMD does not see how it could go about adding a third foundry partner even though UMC, at least, could provide some previous-generation technology-based shipments at low prices.

"Today, we have a foundry relationship with two industry leaders in the space. [...] We also said in the past that the number of foundries we can support or can support us is also a function of the overall size the company has. With the size that we have today, it is difficult to see that we could add a third partner," said Thomas Seifert, chief financial officer of AMD, during quarterly conference call with financial analysts.