14 DAY TRIAL // Though the demand level on the CPU market leaves much to be desired, the same cannot be said about the graphics card segment, which is why TSMC's update regarding its 28nm manufacturing technology is so encouraging.
At this point, the world can breathe a sigh of relief knowing that Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company has managed to avoid the same type of chip shortage as the one that has plagued the 40nm process for years.
There was still a bit of a problem at first, and both AMD and NVIDIA had some issues with undersupply.
That was not just TSMC's fault though, but Qualcomm's as well. Although the latter doesn't deal in PC GPUs, it does rely on TSMC's 28nm technology for other processors. Its orders placed serious pressure on the Taiwanese manufacturer.
TSMC is now speaking up to announce that it is increasing manufacturing capacity of chip at a faster rate than it expected, according to Taiwan Economic News.
By the end of the year, it should be making 68 thousand 300mm wafers a month, since fab 15/phase 2 is adding its 50 thousand.
It is unclear what share of the manufacturing capacity each of the three aforementioned clients has.
This means that it is impossible to tell which company will benefit the most. Given TSMC's history, AMD and NVIDIA are likely to get equal treatment, so there probably won't be any changes to their dynamic.
Regardless, it is good that this is happening now, although the world could have done with news like this a few months ago.
The winter holidays are coming fast, which means that an abundance of 28nm GPU will allow graphics cards to sell for a bit less than before. Whether or not AMD and NVIDIA, and their partners, choose to act on this possibility is entirely up to them.