Monica Chen, Taipei; Joseph Tsai

 

Supply of AMD's Llano APUs, affected by Globalfoundries's lower-than-expected 32nm yield rates, has been significantly limited and is unlikely to recover until the company's upcoming Trinity arrives in 2012, according to sources from motherboard players. When asked about the company's upcoming Trinity schedule, AMD Taiwan declined to comment on unannounced products.

AMD started suffering from Llano APU supply shortages in July due to the yield issues and the company originally expected the supply status to return to normal in September. However, judging from the current situation, the sources believe the company's supply volume is unlikely to meet client demand through the end of 2011.

The sources estimated that the yield rate issue should be resolved in 2012, when Trinity launches.

APUs codenamed Trinity are set to appear in the first quarter of 2012, integrating AMD's Radeon HD 7000 series graphics chips (Southern Islands). The APU part to be manufactured on Globalfoundries' 32nm process and graphics chip part on Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company's (TSMC's) 28nm process.

Despite seeing problems in both 32nm and 45nm processes, Globalfoundries will continue its cooperation with Samsung Electronics over 28nm process technologies.