AMD spent less money on TSMC's research. Apple has been bankrolling TSMC to get the latest and greatest process tech.
AMD reached 7nm not because AMD put the R&D research into it... but because they can ride on the coattails of Apple and TSMC's investments.
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TSMC and Apple simultaneously benefit: TSMC can spread the risk of the 7nm process to more companies. Apple still gets first-dibs on the technology (but they only need ~6months worth of factory time to build all the chips they need).
Its more surprising that Intel managed to stay ahead of TSMC / Apple for so long. The economics are kind of against Intel here. The more people working together on process tech, the more efficient the results get.
AMD spent less money on TSMC's research. Apple has been bankrolling TSMC to get the latest and greatest process tech.
AMD reached 7nm not because AMD put the R&D research into it... but because they can ride on the coattails of Apple and TSMC's investments.
--------
TSMC and Apple simultaneously benefit: TSMC can spread the risk of the 7nm process to more companies. Apple still gets first-dibs on the technology (but they only need ~6months worth of factory time to build all the chips they need).
Its more surprising that Intel managed to stay ahead of TSMC / Apple for so long. The economics are kind of against Intel here. The more people working together on process tech, the more efficient the results get.