Qualcomm making moves for more supply

[jimbo1mcm]

Qualcomm partners with Samsung and UMC to increase Snapdragon S4 supply, report says | The Verge

Looks like the demand for the S4 with LTE is going off the charts. The Galaxy S3 is going to be the big driver for the chip. They must forsee huge demand in the coming months.

 

[jamisont]

not only demands are at high, TSMC have trouble mass producing it.
if u look at their situation, they had trouble adobting HKMG on process so basically they ditched it on 28LP.
also since they cant get more ASML immersion lithography, they're still using nikon's and that doesnt work well on 28nm process.
as a result, their yield on process is still low. thats main reason they cant mass produce 28nm for everyone. (Nvidia, ATI, qualcomm and TI)

also getting more ASML lithography isnt easy, that thing is not cheap.. like 100mil$ each and they need like 40~50 of em and ASML's order is full for next 2~3 years since all fabs need it. (Intel, GF, STM, Samsung etc)