During its latest earnings conference call, AMD let slip a few nuggets of information about its upcoming 28-nm graphics processors. Most notably, the company says it’s committed to having 28-nm GPUs out in the market by the end of the year. Here’s the relevant excerpt from the call, as transcribed by Seeking Alpha:
We also passed several critical milestones in the second quarter as we prepare our next-generation 28-nanometer graphics family. We have working silicon in-house and remain on track to deliver the first members of what we expect will be another industry-leading GPU family to market later this year. We expect to be at the forefront of the GPU industry’s transition to 28-nanometer.
The company also reiterated that it will work with both TSMC and GlobalFoundries on chip production using a 28-nm bulk silicon process. That ought to give it some extra flexibility, especially if 28-nm yields fail to meet expectations at one or both foundry firms.
Recent whispers from the rumor mill have hinted that AMD might have 28-nm GPUs out as early as September, while Nvidia may only be able to follow up with 28-nm GeForces in early 2012. That said, AMD’s official time frame of “later this year” could mean early September just as much as late December. Only time will tell exactly when we can get our hands on the first 28-nm Radeons. (Thanks to X-bit labs for the tip.)
