Why it issues: PC fanatics and informal customers alike are having a troublesome time getting their arms on their subsequent video card improve, because of extreme marketwide inventory points. Whereas many are fast responsible the crypto mining craze, GPU maker Asus suggests the issue is one thing else completely: inadequate upstream yields.
The corporate floated this principle throughout a latest investor convention name, by which Asus mentioned its successes and failures throughout This fall 2020. The most important downside dealing with Asus — and undoubtedly different GPU corporations — is a major scarcity of Nvidia playing cards.
“Our guess is that the hole might need been attributable to decrease yields upstream,” Asus says within the name. “As for when [Nvidia] can enhance that yield is one thing onerous for us to foretell.”
“Our guess is that the hole might need been attributable to decrease yields upstream,” Asus says…
There are a number of potential causes Nvidia could also be producing fewer playing cards than anticipated. Maybe the corporate is deliberately limiting manufacturing to attend out cryptominers, or perhaps it is simply accounting for decrease post-holiday demand (one of many extra standard theories on the market).
Or maybe, as Asus hints above, the slow-down is tied to Nvidia’s (comparatively) latest swap to Samsung’s 8nm manufacturing node for a few of its Ampere GPUs.
The aim of that transfer was to cut back the burden on TSMC, which was already successfully at capability, however whether it is now leading to decrease yields — as in, fewer usable playing cards per wafer produced — Nvidia is perhaps regretting its alternative now.
