Did AMD tape out Zen on TSMC's 16nm FinFET process?

Puzzling news about AMD's Zen processor as the latest rumors suggest the company has contracted TSMC to manufacture its Zen chips. If the rumor from Asian tech site Expreview is correct, AMD was afraid of GlobalFoundries' slow progress in terms of 14nm yields and capacity expansion.

AMD has never really made a firm comment about whether it would use GlobalFoundries or TSMC for Zen, always referring to it as a FinFET process without naming the actual node because that would identify the foundry.

Globalfoundries has reportedly suffered a setback recently as a result of its owner, the government of Abu Dhabi, deciding to cut back on expenses after oil prices crashed, which have so far shown no signs of bouncing back. As such GloFo is reportedly attempting to retool its 28nm equipment for 14nm production. This retooling however has been considerably slow and is the reason behind the recent delays in bringing volumes and yields up to snuff by the pure-play foundry.

Maybe we'll hear more about this when AMD announces its earnings in October.

Via: WCCF Tech