Intel Corp (INTC)

[Unkwn]

I think this makes AMD sole sourced to TSMC. IIRC they’ve never done business with Samsung.

Yup. Guess there will be quite a queue standing in front of TSMC after this, since potential 7nm customers have to switch. I suppose Samsung will jump in, but they'll going to be a bit later than TSMC as it seems. I expect the first 7nm lots to be very expensive - probably one of the reasons why AMD is only considering it for its highest end products for now, where margins justify such a move.

Intel, on the other hand, has to pour as much money into it as the others, where even the state fund of the arabic emirates gets cold feet. Good luck with that ...

There never was a way around a foundry business for Intel and Krzanich knew it but screwed it. It is very late to fix now.

I am predicting a sudden wall to be hit at 5nm where further shrinks simply cannot be justified economically. They have to go into the third dimension - my take. TSMC has no experience with that, unlike Samsung.

To me, this looks very bullish for Samsung. They have the most money to invest and some really crucial IP that may be required going forward. §D DRAM next?

Ah, by the way, there were already reports about AMD moving some of the production to Samsung. Not sure if it actually happened or not (was in 2016). I think AMD already uses Samsung as a second/third source.