Samsung is giving a boost to its chip-making business.
AMD is reportedly partnering with the South Korean tech company and GlobalFoundries to manufacture chips.
Specifically, AMD hired both companies to produce "Greenland" GPUs and "Zen" CPUs employing a 14-nm process, according to Korea's Electronic Times. This means the chips will be 40 percent faster and more energy-efficient compared with their predecessors.
Samsung and GlobalFoundries are rumored to kick off mass producing the Greenland GPU in the second quarter of the coming year. The mass production for the Zen CPU will start shortly after.
In terms of sales, AMD is struggling behind Intel and Nvidia. In fact, the company was reported to have laid off 5 percent of its 9,700 employees. Phil Rogers and Jim Keller, deemed as the company's top hardware gurus, also left not too long ago.
Despite all these challenges, AMD still managed to produce chips used in the Xbox One and PlayStation 4.
"Because Samsung Electronics and GF have same IP for 14-nano processing, chips that are designed by AMD will all be produced at both factories," a person familiar with the matter tells Electronic Times. "If products are produced from both factories, AMD won't have to worry about a problem regarding lack of supplies."
Should the rumor turn out to be true, the team-up with Samsung could take AMD's game up a notch. It could eventually become a strong competitor in the market, particularly now that Samsung is anticipated to ship efficient 10-nm chips in the coming year. Intel, on the other hand, is speculated to release its 10-nm chips not earlier than 2017.
In 2009, AMD decided to get out of the chip manufacturing business.
AMD's latest custom chipset is also purported to run the PlayStation 5. It is believed to provide five times the performance per watt than the chip powering the PlayStation. This could give the next-gen console the ability to support 4K and virtual reality by the time these technologies go mainstream in 2020.
As always with rumors, it is wise if you take everything with a grain of salt.
