TSMC’s Foundry Model Enabled AMD’s Fabless Shift
St. James said TSMC’s manufacturing capabilities helped AMD compete without owning and operating its own chip factories.
Key takeaways
- St. James said AMD began its shift to a fabless model in 2008.
- The firm said TSMC’s manufacturing role helped make fabless chip companies possible.
St. James Investment Company said Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company’s foundry model helped make it possible for chip designers to compete without owning factories. The firm discussed TSMC’s role in its third-quarter 2026 investor letter.
St. James said AMD began moving to a fabless model in 2008, later using TSMC facilities to manufacture chips based on its Zen architecture. AMD spun off its factories and outsourced production because it could not match Intel’s capital spending, according to the letter.
The firm said TSMC’s rise removed the need for chip challengers to be world-class manufacturers themselves. TSMC makes chips designed by other companies, allowing fabless designers to use advanced production processes without building and operating fabrication facilities.
This article was produced with the help of AI technology. Source: Yahoo Finance
