News AMD CEO says U.S.-made TSMC chips are more expensive, but worth it — costs 'more than 5% but less than 20%' higher than Taiwan-sourced alternative

[abufrejoval]

All the chips sold in the EU are probably less than the amount sold in just one American chain store. Not that the EU is not important to AMD, but... Let us Europeans not have an unnecessarily high opinion of ourselves.

With 45 years in the PC business, I know that this used to be true: plenty of people and businesses had microcomputers long before anyone in Europe had ever even seen one.

But these days? Most people don't really manage to use more than one computer at a time, while most jobs no longer work without one. So there might be private ones, work computers, perhaps something mobile, something gaming, but it's not like Americans would have 20 when Europeans only have 2 per capita.

And then there is more of us than there in the US.

But both are mostly replacement markets and the only growth left is beyond both Europe and the US.

 

[Iwata]

They found a way to make more of the same product, that is a volume increase, which under market saturation rules should mean cheaper product, but people are willing to pay more just for a made in the US stamp, it's the absolute same product, made with Chinese technology, with Chinese investment, with Chinese R&D, the only American thing is the location, what a blunder.

 

[nogames]

a 15% difference is a BIG difference...

Also X to doubt the company will shoulder the cost increase it will 100% be consumer.

Agreed. After all links in the chain get their cut, we will see a 25%-30% price increase for the end consumer.

 

[waltc3]

If US patriots want to pay more for their chips, I don't mind them doing so.

But as an EU citizen and taxpayer I don't see why I should pay extra for that.

I'm sure you don't like VAT, either...😉 Those of us in the US agree with you...😉

 

[TerryLaze]

I'm sure you don't like VAT, either...😉 Those of us in the US agree with you...😉

Google tells me that there are 5 states with no sales tax....so your version of the US is extremely small.

 

[FunSurfer]

i'm planning on getting the 12core on a single CCD Zen 6 chip also and we won't have a choice it will be more expensive.

This 12-core single CCD CPU will last long time especially if the next gen consoles will use 8-core CPU like the 7800X3D or similar.

 

[TerryLaze]

This 12-core single CCD CPU will last long time especially if the next gen consoles will use 8-core CPU like the 7800X3D or similar.

But then it will also be "useless" for a gamer, if games only use 8 cores of your 12 core CPU then what's the point in buying it?!

 

[Loadedaxe]

Where do we get wafers? Where do we get the chemicals? The machines they are made on are imported. The only aspect that is going to be American made is that the final processing happens in the USA. Kind of like many cars. Everything is sourced overseas, but assembled here...

We really need to get rid of the regulations that prevent America from doing the from ground to grave of these things.

You're not wrong that a lot of the critical components, like wafers, chemicals, and lithography equipment are still sourced internationally. But that’s exactly why TSMC building fabs in Arizona (and Intel expanding domestically) matters. It’s about securing part of the supply chain in the U.S. so we’re not entirely dependent on East Asia for the most advanced chips.

Yes, the U.S. isn’t self sufficient yet. But it's not because of a lack of capability, it's been a mix of cost, labor, and yes, regulatory hurdles. But it's also because for decades, the U.S. let chip manufacturing drift offshore in favor of fabless design.

Now that geopolitical tension and pandemic related shortages exposed how fragile that model is, we're trying to rebuild. Removing some outdated regulations could help, but we also have to be realistic, you can’t just deregulate your way into a functioning domestic supply chain. You need investment, skilled labor, time, and a strategic industrial policy.

The Arizona fabs aren’t a silver bullet ..... but they’re a necessary step in the right direction. Better to have final processing done here than not at all.

 

[Loadedaxe]

If US patriots want to pay more for their chips, I don't mind them doing so.

But as an EU citizen and taxpayer I don't see why I should pay extra for that.

Fair enough .... nobody likes paying more. But this isn't just about "US patriots" wanting pricier chips for the sake of it. It's about reducing global overdependence on one region (East Asia) for the most critical tech on Earth.

From an EU perspective, you should care too. The chip shortage hit everyone, including European industries, auto, medical, telecoms, with billions in losses. And guess what? Europe’s now pushing its own Chips Act, subsidizing fabs in Germany, France, and Italy. So EU taxpayers are already paying to fix the same supply chain fragility.

This isn’t just American nationalism, it’s about global economic security. Everyone wants a seat at the table because no one wants to be left vulnerable next time things go sideways in Taiwan or China. So whether it’s the U.S., EU, Japan, or South Korea.....building local capacity isn’t charity. It’s insurance.

 

[hotaru251]

The Arizona fabs aren’t a silver bullet ..... but they’re a necessary step in the right direction. Better to have final processing done here than not at all.

....they won't last long term.

Fabs use a LOT of water....building these in locations that already have little water & at times droughts is not going to work for long.

 

[Alvar "Miles" Udell]

Even if they were 30% more most people don't buy them until they go on a big sale anyway and system builders get tray pack volume discounts so the actual price difference is far less.

 

[TerryLaze]

Even if they were 30% more most people don't buy them until they go on a big sale anyway

Which just means that AMD won't get the additional money because OEMs/resellers won't be buying them at normal price if people don't buy them at normal price.

and system builders get tray pack volume discounts so the actual price difference is far less.

If the base price increases and the bulk discount stays the same then the final price is still that much more.

 

[Loadedaxe]

....they won't last long term.

Fabs use a LOT of water....building these in locations that already have little water & at times droughts is not going to work for long.

Fabs do use a ton of water. But the idea that they can't survive in dry regions like Arizona doesn't hold up when you look closer.

Modern fabs recycle a huge portion of their water, TSMC’s facilities in Taiwan, for example, already recycle over 85% of the water they use. In Arizona, they're planning even more aggressive water reclamation systems, including on site treatment and closed-loop systems designed for desert operation. This isn’t new territory, it’s part of the design from the ground up.

And let’s be real....Arizona’s water problems didn’t start with TSMC. Agriculture uses far, far more water than even multiple fabs combined. But unlike farming, fabs bring high skilled jobs, tax revenue, and strategic resilience in an industry the whole world depends on.

Long term sustainability is a real concern, but tech companies know their business depends on it. That’s why they’re engineering around it. Writing off the entire initiative because of water usage oversimplifies a solvable challenge.

 

[goslackware]

Where do we get wafers? Where do we get the chemicals? The machines they are made on are imported. The only aspect that is going to be American made is that the final processing happens in the USA. Kind of like many cars. Everything is sourced overseas, but assembled here...

We really need to get rid of the regulations that prevent America from doing the from ground to grave of these things.

"American chip fabs source wafers from U.S.-based facilities of global suppliers like Shin-Etsu, SUMCO, GlobalWafers, and Siltronic, though many wafers are still imported from Asia. Chemicals come from U.S. firms like Dow and DuPont, supplemented by Japanese suppliers like TOK for photoresists. Machines are primarily from U.S. companies (Applied Materials, Lam Research, KLA) and ASML (Netherlands), with critical U.S. components in ASML’s systems. Other items like photomasks and packaging materials have a mix of domestic and global sources. The CHIPS Act is boosting U.S. production, but the supply chain remains globally interconnected, with full localization still a long-term goal."

 

[Sangheili112]

Where do we get wafers? Where do we get the chemicals? The machines they are made on are imported. The only aspect that is going to be American made is that the final processing happens in the USA. Kind of like many cars. Everything is sourced overseas, but assembled here...

We really need to get rid of the regulations that prevent America from doing the from ground to grave of these things.

We get the neon gas was from Ukraine but since the war. They made about 50% of the global market supply for neon gas.

We can't 100% everything since that's basically impossible

The wafers are made by TSMC? Which is what the Arizona factory makes?

 

[usertests]

I didn't read all the comments, but...

5-20% != just 20%. And a 10% higher wafer cost doesn't mean a 10% higher final product cost.

Capacity is king. As long as we're in a bubble, all of the cheap wafers will be booked, then the slightly more expensive ones. Or it will all happen simultaneously. And I'm sure AMD will be happy to put "Made in America" on their DIY chips that end up being made in Arizona and sold in the U.S.

 

[pug_s]

I will pay more for a Zen 6 CPU, according to the specs rumors, it will be worth it.

I recall that there was some kind of test where someone put 2 similar items, one made in the US and a lower priced made in China. Despite what people say about wanting to buy American, they ended up buying the Chinese one because it is cheaper.

 

[TerryLaze]

I recall that there was some kind of test where someone put 2 similar items, one made in the US and a lower priced made in China. Despite what people say about wanting to buy American, they ended up buying the Chinese one because it is cheaper.

To be fair in the US this is most probably going to be cheaper than the same CPU coming from china/taiwan/wherever with tariffs.

 

[Makaveli]

But then it will also be "useless" for a gamer, if games only use 8 cores of your 12 core CPU then what's the point in buying it?!

I do many things on my rig games are only a small part of it.

 

[TerryLaze]

I do many things on my rig games are only a small part of it.

Sure, I didn't respond to you though, the one I responded to was talking about gaming and nothing else.

 

[Makaveli]

Sure, I didn't respond to you though, the one I responded to was talking about gaming and nothing else.

no doubt but he was responding to my post

 

[thesyndrome]

I thought the entire point of building these fabs and implementing tariffs is that the consumer would pay less?

As it stands, consumers were forced to pay increased prices with the promise that new fabs would be built eventually so that they could.....pay increased prices?

 

[TerryLaze]

I thought the entire point of building these fabs and implementing tariffs is that the consumer would pay less?

It never was, tariffs are always about making imported goods too expensive to be competitive against domestic ones.
In that sense the consumer will pay less compared to imports, but not less than before.

 

[phead128]

That 10% difference in profits compounded over a decade is 256% difference in profits. That is a game changer in a freely competitive industry

 

[Why_Me]

Google tells me that there are 5 states with no sales tax....so your version of the US is extremely small.

I live in one of those US states (Alaska). EU and UK VAT is crazy high. This is what Europeans voted for and it's yet another reason why I laugh whenever I see a post by a European blaming the big bad companies putting the screws to them. The Euros chose to screw themselves.