AMD to Focus on High-end Processors as Global Chip Shortage Continues

The global shortage of semiconductors is hitting a wide range of industries, especially the PC industry and, by extension, its gamer patrons as high-end PCs are becoming more difficult to build. This has also left console players holding the bag as the demand for new-gen consoles like the PlayStation 5 and the Xbox Series X/S far outstrips their supply.

While these developments have not exactly brought tech companies to their knees, they’ve certainly caused them to rethink or improvise their strategies until the chip shortage winds down which it won’t, apparently, for another year at least. These companies include Sony, who is said to be redesigning PS5’s hardware, and now GPU titan AMD.

At a recent JP Morgan conference, AMD CEO Lisa Su admitted the scarcity of silicon has led her company to focus on producing high-end chips at the expense of AMD’s more affordable line-up. Su went on to elaborate that AMD is well-aware that this strategy leaves some segments “underserviced” and also highlighted that the company is prioritizing some of the higher-end commercial SKUs [Stock Keeping Units] and gaming SKUs over some lower-end units.

She also said that AMD’s current products aren’t being made “to put on the shelf,” and that prioritizing the end customer is the primary goal for the time being.

Su cited lean inventories across supply chains as the key reason for this shift in strategy. However, this shift comes as a bit of surprise as a completely different picture was detailed in a Bloomberg interview which featured Su herself.

In that interview, the CEO maintained a positive outlook on the availability for the company’s graphic cards, and claimed that chip supply will be ramped up sooner rather than later. She also said that the past year had been a “very active time” for AMD in terms of supply chain optimization, and that customers will see a boost in availability of products over the next couple of financial quarters.

While the news of more stock is welcome, it is now clear that this stock will largely comprise the company’s more expensive products. According to Su, the company hopes to add more chip manufacturing capacity over the “next couple of months.”

If you’re in the market for an AMD CPU, you can consider last year’s Ryzen 3300X and 3100 CPUs, which initially launched for $120 and $99, respectively. But unfortunately, the chip shortage has jacked these prices up to $180 or more. If you’re not looking to mine cryptocurrency, there are also many Nvidia chips to consider.

About Advanced Micro Devices

Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) is an American multinational semiconductor company headquartered in Santa Clara, California.

AMD develops computer processors and related technologies for business and consumer markets. AMD’s main products include microprocessors, motherboard chipsets, embedded processors and graphics processors for servers, workstations, personal computers and embedded system applications.