14 DAY TRIAL // Not much time after being released, the ATI Radeon HD 5700 and ATI Radeon HD 5800 series was revealed to be in relative short supply, due to, said AMD representative Chris Hook, Advanced Micro Devices' relative short supply of high-end and mainstream DirectX 11 products. This shortage of components is mostly generated by the yield issues the Taiwan Semiconductor manufacturing Company (TSMC) is currently faced with. The AMD spokesman reinforced the fact that the problem would soon be alleviated.
“What is important is that we have shipped hundreds of thousands of ATI Radeon 5000-series so far. The supply is going to open up quite a bit further in December. We are a couple weeks away from an improvement in supply. It has been a little bit slow in November, but you are going to see an improvement in supply in December,” said Chris Hook, a spokesperson for AMD.
Not surprisingly, AMD's series of graphics adapters are very popular thanks to their high-end capabilities. The processor developer is finally starting to come out of the insecure financial situation it has been in for the past 18 months. The $1.25 billion received from Intel, after the antitrust settlement, aided in the settling of various debts that had been restricting the company's freedom of action. With its current, more stable foothold, AMD can finally put more resources into mass-production of products, including these two graphics adapter series.
This announcement may have rekindled the hopes of end-users, from multimedia enthusiasts to gamers. Hopefuls can now be sure that there is still a chance to see the Radeon HD 5700 and HD 5800 adapters shipped in time for their Christmas shopping spree. Not only that, but AMD/ATI must know well that it would be in its best interest to have as many such cards available in time, as holiday sales are always over the top and, naturally, so are the revenues.